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In this VFR - GPS Flight Plan we take off from
the runway 21 of the Nanyuki airport (HKNY), fly over the lakes Naivasha
and Nakuru lakes, and then to the west over the north shore of the lake
Victoria, finally landing in the runway 35 of the Entebe international
airport (HUEN). The intention was to land in the runway 17, but
ATC gave instructions to use the 35.
In this journey around Africa I have used the Cessna 172S (Skyhawk)
Take off from the runway 11 of the Nanyuki airport (HKNY).
Nanyuki Airfield, (IATA: NYK, ICAO: HKNY), is in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, in the Kenyan East Rift Valley.
Located on the western foothills of Mount Kenya, it lies only 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), south of the Equator. It is approximately 140 kilometres (87 mi), by air, north of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the country's largest civilian airport.
At 1,905 metres (6,250 ft) above sea level, the airport has a single asphalt runway which measures 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) in length.
Nanyuki Airfield is a government-owned, privately leased airfield, serving private and commercial air operators. The airfield handles mostly small, light, single-engine aircraft and some twin engined aircraft. Most traffic through Nanyuki is routed from Nairobi, carrying tourists to Mara Serena Airport, Samburu Airport, Laikipia, Lewa and Meru. The airfield is leased by Tropic Air Kenya, offering air charter and helicopter services. (*1)
Steep ascent to 12,000 feet.
Lake Naivasha and the town in the background.
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town
of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north west of Nairobi. It is
situated in the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local
Maasai name ɛnaɨpɔ́sha , meaning "that which heaves," a common Maasai
word for bodies of water large enough to have wave action when it is
windy or stormy. Naivasha arose from a British attempt to pronounce the
Maasai name. Literally, Lake Naivasha means "Lake Lake."
Lake Naivasha is at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,884 metres (6,181 ft) in a complex geological combination of volcanic rocks and sedimentary deposits from a larger Pleistocene Era lake. Apart from transient streams, the lake is fed by the perennial Malewa and Gilgil rivers. There is no visible outlet, but since the lake water is relatively fresh it is assumed to have an underground outflow.
The lake had a normal surface area of 139 square kilometres (54 sq mi) before 2010 and had increased to 198 square kilometres (76 sq mi) by 2020. It is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square kilometres (25 sq mi), but this can vary largely depending on rainfall. Situated at an altitude of 1,884 metres (6,181 ft), the lake has an average depth of 6 metres (20 ft), with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, with a maximum depth of 30 metres (98 ft). Njorowa Gorge once formed the lake's outlet, but it is now high above the lake and forms the entrance to Hell's Gate National Park. The town of Naivasha (formerly East Nakuru) lies on the north-east edge of the lake. (*1)
Leaving lake Naivasha behind.
Flying over lake Nakuru and the town.
Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley lakes, located at an elevation of 1,754 m (5,755 ft) above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park.
The lake's abundance of algae used to attract a vast quantity of flamingos that famously lined the shore. Other birds also flourish in the area, as do warthogs, baboons and other large mammals. Eastern black rhinos and southern white rhinos have also been introduced.
About 10,000 years ago, Lake Nakuru, together with neighboring Lake Elementaita and Lake Naivasha (60 km further south), formed one single, deep freshwater lake that eventually dried up, leaving the three lakes as remnants.
Water levels in Lake Nakuru have since varied considerably, with the lake almost drying up several times over the past 50 years. The latest significant drop happened in the early 1990s. In 2013, levels again increased rapidly, leading to the migration of many flamingos to Lake Bogoria in search of food supply. Between 2010 and 2020 Lake Nakuru increased in surface area from 40 to 68 square kilometres (15 to 26 sq mi). 677 households, parts of Nakuru town and some National Park areas had been flooded.
Nakuru means "Dust or Dusty Place" in the Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park, close to Nakuru town, was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the famous lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity, but has since been extended to include a large part of the savannahs.
Lake Nakuru is protected under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. (*1)
The town of Kisumu at the shore of the Winam gulf.
Winam Gulf is a significant extension of northeastern Lake Victoria into western Kenya. Formerly known as Kavirondo Gulf, Nyanza Gulf, and Lake Nyanza Gulf, it is a shallow inlet and is connected to the main lake by Rusinga Channel (3 mi (4.8 km) wide), which is partly masked from the main body of the lake by islands.
The port of Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city, stands on its northeastern shore. The gulf has an average width of 25 km (16 mi) and extends for 64 km (40 mi) from Kisumu to the channel. Significant bays in the gulf include Naya Bay, Nyakach Bay, Osodo Bay, Kendu Bay, Homa Bay, Ruri Bay, Mirunda Bay, Asembo Bay, and Olambwe Bay. Islands in the gulf include Maboko, Rusinga, and Ndere Islands. (*1)
Crossing the border and entering Uganda.
Flying over one of the many islands in the northern
shore of lake Victoria.
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi), Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America. In terms of volume, Lake Victoria is the world's ninth-largest continental lake, containing about 2,424 km3 (1.965×109 acre⋅ft) of water. Lake Victoria occupies a shallow depression in Africa. The lake has an average depth of 40 m (130 ft) and a maximum depth of 80–81 m (262–266 ft). Its catchment area covers 169,858 km2 (65,583 sq mi). The lake has a shoreline of 7,142 km (4,438 mi) when digitized at the 1:25,000 level, with islands constituting 3.7% of this length.
The lake's area is divided among three countries: Tanzania occupies 49% (33,700 km2 (13,000 sq mi)), Uganda 45% (31,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi)), and Kenya 6% (4,100 km2 (1,600 sq mi)).
The lake is home to many species of fish which live nowhere else, especially cichlids. Invasive fish, such as the Nile perch, have driven many endemic species to extinction.
Though having multiple local language names (Swahili: Ukerewe; Dholuo: Nam Lolwe; Luganda: 'Nnalubaale; Kinyarwanda: Nyanza), the lake was renamed after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, the first Briton to document it in 1858, while on an expedition with Richard Francis Burton. (*1)
Flying over Kampala.
Kampala (UK: /kæmˈpɑːlə/,[3][4] US: /kɑːmˈ-/ ⓘ)[3][5] is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa, and Rubaga.
Kampala's metropolitan area consists of the city proper and the neighboring Wakiso District, Mukono District, Mpigi District, Buikwe District and Luweero District. It has a rapidly growing population that is estimated at 6,709,900 people in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in an area of 8,451.9 km2 (3,263.3 square miles). Other estimates estimate put the size of the metropolitan area at around four million people.
In 2015, this metropolitan area generated an estimated nominal GDP of $13.80221 billion (constant US dollars of 2011), which was more than half of Uganda's GDP for that year, indicating the importance of Kampala to Uganda's economy.
Kampala is reported to be among the fastest-growing cities in Africa, with an annual population growth rate of 4.03 percent, by City Mayors. Mercer (a New York–based consulting firm) has regularly ranked Kampala as East Africa's best city to live in, ahead of Nairobi and Kigali.
Kampala originally referred to only the present-day Old Kampala hill, on whose summit Fort Lugard was located, and the initial headquarters of the British colonial authorities in the soon to be Uganda Protectorate.
Before the British construction of Fort Lugard, the hill was a hunting reserve of the Kabaka (King) of Buganda and had several species of antelope, especially the impala. As a result, when the British colonial officials were allocated this hill by the then Kabaka of Buganda, they referred to it as "The Hill of the Impala".
The Baganda, in whose territory this British settlement was located, then translated "Hill of the Impala" as Akasozi ke'Empala. This was then shortened to K'empala and finally Kampala. Kasozi means "hill", ke "of", and empala the plural of "impala". Hence the name "Kampala" came to refer to this initial British colonial settlement that would later on spread out from the occupied Old Kampala hill near the pre-existing Kibuga (capital) of the Buganda Kingdom. (*1)
Final approach to the runway 35 of the Entebbe
international airport (HUEN).
Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda which is located on Lake
Victoria peninsula, approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of the
Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government
for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The city
is the location of Entebbe International Airport, Uganda's largest
commercial and military airport, which gained worldwide attention in
1976 Israeli rescue of 100 hostages kidnapped by the militant group of
the PFLP-EO and Revolutionary Cells (RZ) organizations. Entebbe is also
the location of State House, the official office and residence of the
President of Uganda.
The word came from Luganda language e ntebe which means 'seat' / 'chair'. Entebbe was a cultural site for the Mamba clan and it was called "entebbe za Mugula" - Mugula was the title of a chief of a subdivision of the Mamba clan - and is now the location of the official office and residence of the President of Uganda, as it was for British governors before independence. Entebbe was the former seat of power in the country, but has now been replaced by Kampala (*1)
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(*1) Credits: The descriptive texts are mainly an excerpt of those provided by Wikipedia. Visit Wikipedia to read the full descriptions.
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