Rabat - Dakhla 02.05.2010
We join Casablanca through the published VFR routes and we set our course direct to Layoune and Dakhla our final destination today. Our first emotions start as we are flying over Tarfaya where a monument about St.Exupery is located. Tarfaya was a stop over in the times of the Aeropostale. We fly at 500ft/msl along the west coast of the Sahara. A lot of souvenirs come through my mind as we fly along between Layoune and Dakhla, a route that I know well as I flew it many times some 20 years ago… on a Pilatus Porter for the UN/Swiss Medical Unit. Yannick and myself, we take the opportunity to take some photos and film some sequences of this memorable flight. After 8h20, we reach the Dakhla peninsula and we land with a moderate cross wind. Once the local formalities are completed, we go the hotel « Bab El Bahar » where we will enjoy some fresh Oysters and Lobster ! The next day is a rest day for us. Although our intentions were to continue to Dakar today, we could not advance our flight permits by one day and therefore we will stay in Dakhla today. This will allow us to get some rest as internet is not working and prepare the next flight.
Francisco
"And even if the journey is a pleasant one, the pilot flying along somewhere on his section of the route is not simply a witness to a scene. He is not admiring the colours of the earth and sky, the marks of the wind on the sea, the gilded clouds of twilight; they are the objects of his meditation. Just as the rustic farmer walking over his land foresees in thousand signs the coming of spring, the danger of frost, the prospect of rain, so the professional pilot deciphers signs of snow, signs of fog, signs that the night will be a blessed one. His machine, which at first seemed to distance him from the great questions of nature, in fact subjects him even more rigourously to them. Alone within the vast tribunal that is the stormy sky, the pilot is in contention for his mailbags with three elemental divinities : mountain, sea and storm." St. Exupéry. Formation Azimut270 is overflying Cap Juby (Tarfaya) enroute to Villa Cisneros (Dakhla), we are living a dream in the dream ! After few orbits over this former Aéropostale base managed by St. Exupéry in the thirties, I spot the monument dedicated to him, intense emotion, incredible moment ! We carry on to the south along the Aéropostale route, following the coastline at low level in an incredible feeling of joy and freedom !
Yannick
