A few
weeks ago I went along on my first flight in Lesotho. It was great to see some
of the terrain I will be flying over soon. Most of the country is mountainous.
However, the mountains were all brown with almost no trees anywhere. I’m told
there is some green for part of the year, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Most of
our day was spent at Methaleneng. The airstrip is surrounded by mountains and
is often windy. MAF has a weather station there that connects to the internet
so that pilots can check the weather before attempting a landing. There is also
a windsock for the pilots to see when they arrive. Unfortunately, the weather
station had stopped working, and the windsock was ripped. So our goals that day
were to replace the windsock and install a new weather station.
The
takeoff from Methaleneng is pretty exciting. You takeoff directly towards a
mountain, the airstrip ends with a drop off down the cliff, and you complete
your exit by making a sharp left turn towards the valley. Maybe the video will show
it better.
