National Geographic: Flight Over Africa (1994)

[bunniefuu]

There are still a few places left

that you can't

get to from here.

Places without phones

or faxes or even roads.

There are still a few corners

of the globe so remote

they remain aloof from

what we call the modern world.

This is the realm

of the bush pilot.

Tom Clayton is leaving

behind his family

and friends for a two-year

adventure around the world.

The 28-year-old Radnor

resident checks out

his single engine plane

for the last time

before taking a solo flight

from wings Airport in Norristown.

The purpose is to try

and go to seven continents

in different parts

of the world and live

and work with

bush pilots.

As a bush pilot

Claytor will fly daredevil

routes while delivering

vital supplies to remote areas.

So before taking to the skies

Claytor got his

hugs and kisses

while cameras recorded

all the action.

And there was even

a special goodbye.

Then as the crowd

looked on

the pilot closed the c*ck door

and took off.

The day he left,

he made the local TV news.

If he makes it back,

he'll make history.

Tom Claytor hopes to be

the first to fly around the world

Stopping on all seven continents

before returning home

I had this tremendous desire

inside to look at other places

to look in places like

Greenland and the Sahara Desert.

Things that I'd only seen

on the map in high school.

So I think it's a desire

to look at different parts of the world

and to live with people

on other parts of the world

but maybe also it's

a little challenge

or test for myself as well.

Claytor is 31 years old.

When he was 12

he set foot in an airplane

for the first time.

It was to be the start of

an obsession

When he was just 18

he earned a pilot's license.

By his early 20s

he had begun working

as a bush pilot in Africa.

Today, Claytor owns his own airplane

named "Timmissartok"

after one of Lindbergh's planes.

Outrigged with

a special reserve tank

the Cessna 180 Taildragger

can fly about 14 hours

without refueling.

The struggle to keep

his gas tank

full has shaped

Claytor's journey from the very start.

I left home

with $20,000.

And when I

got to Greenland

it cost me $1,000 to fill up

my gas tank once.

So it became very obvious

that I was going to have to

find ways of getting money.

And my idea which was

only an idea when I left

was that I'd work the plane on the way.

And when I got to Niger

I found a job doing

a survey of a park

which paid me $8,000.

So I've been able to find jobs

for the plane on the way.

Besides working the

plane as he goes,

Claytor's writing a book

about his experience

in the far corners

of the world.

So far, he's logged

three continents

and 28 countries.

On December 2, 1990

he left Pennsylvania

heading north through

Canada to Greenland

and then Iceland.

In the summer of '91,

he arrived in Europe.

And early in '92

he began traveling

through Africa.

The longest leg of

Claytor's journey

so far has been

on the Africa continent.

His video journal

is testimony to a rare

and spontaneous adventure.

We're now in... market

which is the largest

market in West Africa

We're now in...

and Mr... has with

him scorpions

And now he's going

to show me that he can use his

so that the scorpions

don't bite you

we just did this once before

I hope it's successful again.

Okay...

It's starting to rain now.

Now in southwest Africa

Claytor has spent the

last few weeks

exploring the country

of Namibia.

Today, he plans to visit

an area rich in African history

a group of abandoned towns

near the Namibian coast.

There's a town southwest

of the Namib Desert

called Kolmanskop and

this town was founded

because a railway worker

working on the rail line

found a very pretty stone.

And this lead to a diamond

rush which caused

this town to spring

out of the desert

and then as quickly as

it started it disappeared.

Kolmanskop was followed

by other boomtowns

a sudden cluster

of Diamond settlements

that sprang up

in the lifeless desert.

At the turn

of the century,

Diamonds were

so plentiful here,

they say you could collect

a jarful a night

by just picking up

whatever glistened

in the moonlight.

In the saloons

you could buy your whiskey

and your woman with raw diamonds.

May 10th.

It's a ghost town,

almost like

the American west.

Casinos.

Hotels. Houses.

There's something haunting

and magical about this place.

I keep looking

in the sand half expecting

to find a diamond.

But there are none.

When the sand was

picked clean,

the people disappeared.

What they left behind

is am eerie memento.

An empty museum.

A movie set.

I can almost imagine

the sounds of music

and laughter here.

Claytor's itinerary is

deliberately unpredictable.

If he has enough money for gas

he can simply scout around

off the beaten path

for material for his book.

What I'm trying to do is

visit remote parts of the world

places like this desert

jungles ice caps

and places which are basically

the frontiers of civilization.

And the venue by which I do

that is I look for bush pilots

because bush pilots work

in these areas and very often

they're not just pilots

but they're scientists

they're businessman,

they're researches

they're missionaries

and conservationists.

These pilots also teach me

the particulars of

these various areas and

how to go through them safely.

Recently, another bush

pilot told Claytor

about an isolated shipwreck

on the Namiban Beach.

One of the many

skeletons along

Africa's infamous

Skeleton Coast.

Claytor is looking for a

South African

freighter called the Otavi

which sank in 1945.

A mere footnote

in history,

the wreck is said to be

extremely well preserved

thanks to the tiny cove

where it went aground.

Just beyond this swept

area and that beach,

there's a rock peninsula

and one beyond it.

You'll see in between

the two is the shipwreck.

Right here the ocean is

just moving back off the Otavi.

There are seals just piled up

around that wreck.

You can see the wreck

jetting up out of the sand.

And part of it's

been split off.

And those are seals

they're just packed all around it.

May 15th.

I am on the edge

of one of the oldest

deserts in the world.

The skeleton coast

where countless

shipwrecked sailors

lost their lives.

It feels like a place

I was never meant to be.

Like a ghost, the Otavi

looms before me

rising three decks

above the sand,

something almost

lost and forgotten.

I try to imagine the men

who wrecked here

half a century ago.

How did it feel to be

marooned in such a place?

The wreck of the Otavi

is so inaccessible that

Claytor is probably the

lonely vessel's

first visitor in decades.

His book promises to be

a guided tour

of the middle of nowhere.

May 16th

Today is the 894th day

since I left home.

Sometimes I worry

that I will become

to comfortable

being alone. Already,

I can't imagine

what it would be like to be

in a room full of people.

I miss the most unbelievably

trivial things.

A bookstore.

A movie.

A long hot shower.

A pillow.

The only sound I hear

is a hyena in the distance.

I wonder where it is.

But I relish the quite...

the solitude.

May 17th. I wake up

at dawn and it's freezing.

I brush my teeth and

break down camp.

And then, almost as though

it were a part of myself

I see to the plane.

What I'm doing.

But of course

I think about it.

I check everything

and the I check it again.

Three pilots I met

in the Faroe Islands

were recently k*lled

when their helicopter crashed.

That makes 15 pilots...

since I started flying.

There's so much of flying

that's completely

out of your control.

So I try to concentrate

on what I can control.

Despite the dangers

and perhaps also

because of them

Claytor loves to fly

The whole world

goes upside down.

And yet everything inside

the airplane stays the same. Kinda fun.

If you do it wrong

you can really get

into a lot of trouble.

You can really really scare

yourself if you do it too fast

or too slow

or you stall the tail

hour heart drops...

so that's when I do it

by myself to practice it.

Because you don't want

to do it wrong

when you're trying

to show someone.

But the life of a bush pilot

is not all barrel rolls

and stunt flying.

With funds running low

Claytor needs to start looking for

his next paying job.

He decides to

leave Namibia

flying northeast

to Botswana.

Here, he'll visit an old friend

and fellow bush pilot...

Perhaps, with a little luck

he'll also get a line on some work.

Bush pilots everywhere

seem to have an

informal network

for news and information.

In Africa, many are

involved in wildlife

management and conservation,

like Lloyd Wilmot.

Just keep a nook out

for breeding herds

and any sign of

vultures and hyenas.

Wilmot runs a safari camp

in Chobe National Park.

In addition

he uses his plane to help

combat poaching

in the immense refuge

where he is an

honorary game warden.

Today, Claytor has become

along with Wilmot

to track a herd of elephants

just outside the park.

You've a huge herd

underneath you right now.

Roger.

I'm turning to the right.

I want to have another

look at that herd.

Okay,

I'm in on your left.

Now that they've spotted

the elephants from the air

they'll continue the

search on foot tomorrow.

Lloyd Wilmot is one

of the few wildlife experts

who routinely approaches

elephant without the protection

of a vehicle.

He and Clayton will wait

at a watering hole

for a close up view

of the animals.

What do you do if you're

surprised by an elephant?

Is there a trick to

not getting eaten?

There's no

real trick.

The thing is to try and

keep the wind in your favor.

If you

if you can see him

before he sees you

you can figure out

which way the wind's going

and then go down wind

of him and keep clear of him

but in the

ultimate analysis

if you are

confronted

you get to something

like a big tree, like that.

If you can't climb it

you just get behind it

and you have a clot of earth

like a lump over there

or a piece of wood,

and throwing that at them

often turns them and distracts them.

In their sort of terms

of reference

nothing has ever thrown

anything at them

so they get a bit

disconnected

when you actually

throw something at them.

Wow! There is

Notice how they skim

the top of the water

because that's where

it's cleanest and clearest.

The sediment sinks down

and you have about half

half an inch to an inch

of clean water on top.

So they suck

just on the top,

much like you see

them doing now...

you have to look carefully,

the ears are c*ck.

Claytor approaches

a bull sh**t some video of him

but the large make

has no interest

in posing for the camera.

What did you just do there?

It's a bluff charge.

It's to get you to go.

Just call his bluff.

Stay put.

May 22nd.

I have just been charged

by a wild elephant.

Lloyd laughs lightly,

like he's seen it

a thousand times.

Neither one of

us says much.

There's really not much

to say after an elephant charge.

After a while

a large group emerges from the bush.

Its an extraordinary thing

to be so close to

these magnificent creatures.

It's so easy to feel small

in the face of such splendid power.

Thanks to bush

pilot grapevine,

Claytor has secured a job

in an international park

in Zimbabwe.

the two pilots part company

in the Botswana sky

Claytor's headed for

Hwange National Park

in Western Zimbabwe,

but first he'll make

a slight detour to one

of Africa's most

spectacular natural wonders:

Victoria Falls.

I'm now flying low

over the Zambezi River

approaching Victoria Falls

and as you look ahead at the trees

you just see this mist

this towering mist rising

our of the trees

that are above the water.

And the Africans call it

"Mosi-oa-Tunya."

Which means the

smoke that thunders.

The Zambezi River

drops up to a million

gallons of water a second

over the 350-foot falls.

Even before it

comes into sight,

the roar of the plummeting

water is deafening.

The rainbow everywhere.

You see the mist

sailing the screen.

Look at that chasm,

and there's a rainbow

coming across it.

Wow, look at that

right below the falls

you can see there're gorges

that just zig back

and forth about five times.

And in these gorges

it also drops down

to this boiling

black water below.

It's spectacular.

May 26th. I can't resist

flying down into the gorge

even though it's risky.

Not only could I be k*lled

I could probably get arrested.

As I corner

the water explodes into

a torrent if frothing white waves.

Sometimes flying is

just a fast way to travel.

And sometimes

it's the greatest thing in the world.

Leaving the falls behind

Claytor reaches

Hwange National Park.

Before he can land

in a remote area

Claytor has to

clear the runway.

Collisions with animals are

one of the greatest

dangers bush pilots

face in Africa.

Okay, are you feeling

strong this morning.

On the ground,

Claytor gets some help

refueling and prepares

for his next

assignment in the air.

Conservationist and

researcher Janet Rachlow

has hired Claytor to

help track an injured

rhinoceros in the park.

Rachlow is part of

a controversial program

designed to protect

severely endangered rhinos.

Park officials in Zimbabwe

have been removing

the horns from dozens of

rhinos in a desperate

attempt to deter poachers.

Claytor was there during one

of the dehorning

operations and videotaped it.

The first time

I saw rhinos

getting their horns cut

off it was in the southeast

section of Zimbabwe.

This huge rhino was lying

there sedated

and this man pulled the

started ripping the horn off its face.

And you start to

ask yourself,

"why made clear tome

was that there's nothing

else that can do here.

The rhino Claytor and Rachlow

are searching

for is an adult

female named Zola.

Even though she

was dehorned,

she was shot and badly

wounded by poachers.

In the vast 5000

square mile park,

the only way to locate

individual animals

is from the air.

Even then,

it's no easy matter.

We're starting to

get a signal.

Okay

Once we get

a little bit closer,

we can listen

out of both wings...

and we wanna balance

the volume that comes

in on the two wings

and that'll keep us

going right towards it... Okey

Geez, it's hard to see

through this bush, isn't it?

Okay, straight... Real close

real close

directly under us.

Nothing under

us on the left.

It's quite possible that

her collar has come off.

It's come off several

of the other animals.

So what we'll need to

do is just come in on foot

and find the collar

or find the animal. But,

you know,

now we know the area.

With the help

of expert trackers,

the search for Zola

continues on foot.

Dr. Michael Kock

is the veterinarian

for Zimbabwe's national park.

Once they find

the rhino,

Dr. Kock will sh**t her

with a tranquilizer dart

so he can treat

her g*nsh*t wounds.

I need...

The hole is swollen here.

That's from a

g*nsh*t there?

What I need is,

I need an eye cover

My shirt?

She looks good.

You can see she's done

some wearing here around the edges.

If Zola had died,

the poachers would

probably have cut off

what was left of her

horn to sell. Still,

dehorning does appear

to reduce poaching overall.

It's easy to want to take

an emotional stance

to conserving these animals.

And if you take that stance,

dehorning is hard to justify.

But I think we have

to be realistic,

and we have to look

at what's happening.

And, I mean, I'd be

really sad to tell my

children or my

grandchildren that,

sorry,

there used to be something

as magnificent as

a dinosaur,

but we k*lled them all

Strafed with machine

g*n fire

the huge creature's legs

are swollen with infection.

Once her wounds

are treated

Zola will be given an antidote

to the tranquilizer and freed.

May 27th.

The immense animal awakes

and rises to her feet

but does not move.

Then, slowly she lowers

her massive head

to the ground and uses

her chin as a crutch

to limp off into

the bush.

The doctor sounds optimistic

but I am not.

She might survive

these wounds

but to a poacher,

her life is worth far less

than the sad stump at

he end of her nose.

Four days later,

Claytor receives a wire

from Janet Rachlow.

Despite all their efforts

Zola has died.

Back on his way,

Claytor returns to the

explorer's life.

He has decided to pay a visit

to an orphanage

for chimpanzees in Burundi.

Claytor heads north

toward Burundi.

But first he'll

cross Zambia,

and an area called

the Kafue Flats.

I'm now somewhere

over the Kafue swamps,

and as far as you can

see in every direction,

it's absolutely flat.

And it's this green patina

over dark blue water.

If you didn't see the

sun reflecting, you know

that it's just a green patina

of growth on top of

this vast swamp.

I think if you lost

your engine here

I'm not sure

how deep it is

but you'd probably just

mush into this green gunk

and just sit on top of the

wing and then try

to call someone.

You just can't crash here.

If he did crash here,

Claytor's tiny plane would be

almost impossible

to spot from the air.

The orange stripes on the tail

and wings are a safety measure.

If he goes down, the right

color might make it

easier to find him

in the empty terrain he frequents

Claytor hopes

he'll never have to

find out if it works.

And crashing isn't the

only thing a pilot

has to worry about.

I've had a couple

of close calls.

When I got to Algeria,

it was right after the

military took over.

And they thought that

a bush pilot

was a pilot for George Bush.

And right after

the gulf w*r,

George Bush was not a

very popular person.

I tried to quickly explain

that a bush pilot

had nothing at all

to do with George Bush.

Claytor decides to make

a brief stop in Zambia

to refuel and chart his course to Burundi.

Bueno Bungee.

How's everything here?

I am from Ndola,

but I needed to refuel.

Hello.

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

I'm Claytor...

We are just from

around here.

The lanky American is

an unusual sight

wherever he lands

and his grasp of African

languages is often

a crowd pleaser.

This is my first time

ever to come here.

It's nice to meet you.

Oh, it's very nice

to meet you.

When landing,

you're suppose to pay

something - a landing fee.

I can pay it.

How much should

I pay you?

I want to pay...

How much?

How many kilograms?

It's one ton.

U.S. dollars is that?

It's about

one U.S. dollar.

I understand that

Can I pay you

two U.S. dollars?

So is that okay?

This is more than okay.

Okay

no but please

the change is for you guys

You can have it.

Because landing

fees here are very reasonable...

so it's one cent.

These are for you to do

as you wish to improve your airport.

I think that's the

cheapest airport

I've ever landed

at in my whole life.

When you fly in the day

it's very bumpy,

because the sun heats

the surface

of the African earth

and it just gets these currents

of air straight up.

At night,

it's completely different.

The air is calm and still.

You can see the stars.

You can see fires

on the ground.

You can see the moonlight

reflecting off of lakes.

And it's very calm and

peaceful and kind of reflective time.

You're suspended in space

over this large black think

that you can't see.

It's mysterious.

The chimpanzee orphanage

in northern Burundi

was founded by the

Jane Goodall Institute in 1989.

Chimps confiscated

from smugglers

are brought here

to be cared for by

conservationists and volunteers.

Dean Anderson

is the director of the refuge.

At the moment,

it is home to 17 chimpanzees,

and one baby gorilla.

How old is she?

She's about three

She was confiscated

at the airport.

She was taken from her forest

home as all the other chimps here...

In Zaire... eastern Zaire,

because she's

an eastern lowland gorilla,

by poachers

and then she was brought to...;

she was in transport...

now what they were

going to do with her there

I don't know.

Probably a zoo or...

Is that where they were

mostly going to zoos at one point?

Zoos probably.

A gorilla would

probably go to a zoo.

'Cuz a private

person would just...

No...

Not be so

interested, right,

because they get

too big and too violent?

Yes, well too big.

I mean, how do you keep

a 300-pound gorilla

or something.

June 4th.

There are baby

chimpanzees everywhere.

They are affectionate

and smart.

Each one has

a distinct personality.

One has mastered the

art of threading a shoelace.

If they were returned

to the forest,

they would be k*lled

by wild chimps.

They can never go home.

My mind drifts

back to a day

I spent in Equatorial Guinea

and that little chimp I found.

We just had something to eat

at a restaurant and I came out.

And sitting here tied to

this chair is this

little baby chimpanzee.

I don't know

how old it is.

He seems very cold.

He was hugging himself

when I found him.

And it's,

I'm shocked by it.

I don't know what

to think.

He's just sitting here.

Oh my god.

I've got to go.

Most of the chimps

in the orphanage

were captured by poachers

to be sold as pets.

Though they are extremely

appealing as babies,

growing chimpanzees

are too smart

and too destructive

to make good pets.

Once the chimps

become powerful adults,

they must be

confined in cages,

a lonely place for

these social primates,

who quickly become bored

and desperate for attention.

Soon,

Dean hopes the orphanage

may be able to give

some chimps

a little more freedom.

This is a

temporary situation.

We're hoping to

get money together to out

them into the sanctuary

that we're talking about.

And there they'll be,

they'll all be together.

They won't have cages,

they won't have ropes.

They'll be on an open space

where they can have a

semi-natural social life.

Which is so important

for chimpanzees.

Wildlife in Africa seems

to be in direct conflict

with people here because

they need space

and the animals need space

and the animals end up losing...

I was impressed that

someone was trying

to take these chimps that

had already basically list so much,

they were trying to

in a way give them back

to themselves and nature.

May be its not perfect.

Nut it was something.

Soon Claytor must leave Africa,

and make the rest of

his way around the globe.

But first, he wants

to make one more stop.

For some time,

he has wanted to visit Zaire.

But so far, he hasn't been

granted clearance to land there.

Okay, this is Mike Oscar

in southern Zaire.

Over.

Mike Oscar...

is there any way for me

to confirm a clearance from Ndola?

Over

That's very difficult

because of the fact that

there's no telephone

communication between

the two places. Over

Okay, roger.

If I arrive with my copy

of my AFTN request,

how easy is it to negotiate

once on the ground?

Over.

How much money

do you have? Over

I've got a fair amount.

How much do you

think it would cost? Over.

At least $250 each. Over

Roger, I understand.

The turbulent political

situation in Zaire

makes it extremely difficult

to get permission

to enter the country.

Claytor decides

to go in any way,

without an official

clearance.

He'll touch down at

a small airstrip

where he can refuel

form his own supply.

If he's lucky, no one will

ask him for his papers.

In Africa there's a rule

an unwritten rule,

and that is that it's easier to

get pardoned than

to get permission.

Because of communications

and how difficult

it is to get clearance

and things,

its sometimes easier

just tot do them and afterwards,

of course,

you get in trouble.

But the Africans

are very forgiving.

Good people,

and very often

they'll forgive you.

For Claytor,

everyday is part of

a grand-if

solitary-adventure.

He's been away form home

for nearly three years

and it could be

three more before he returns.

From Africa,

he will head east to the

four remaining continents

between him a home.

Claytor has grown accustomed

to being a stranger

everywhere he goes

but he is also changed

by every place he visits

and every person

he meets.

I think there's a part of me

that's become a little bit African,

because the Africans have

a saying

which is when you

ask them

when they'll come back or

what time something will be ready

they'll smile and look at you

and say anytime from now.

So when people ask me

when I'm going to get home

sometimes I just can

only say anytime from now.