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Not long after the walk, I saw a photograph somewhere of the Western part of Africa taken from a Satellite. I then resolved to try to get hold of similar photo which would show mainly the Western Cape coast - as a memento of the walk. This led to my trying to get hold of aerial photos of the route Don and I had walked.
I can't recall whether it was at a Council meeting or after a Church service but I happened to mention my idea to Bob Dale, one of my fellow councillors. Bob was in the South African Air Force and mentioned that he knew the chap in charge of the Air Force Aerial Photo team - he said he would ask this chap whether they could help me.
Some time after that, Bob told me that he had spoken to this friend, a Major (cannot recall his name!!) and he gave me this Major's phone number saying I should call him and tell him what I was after. I did this and the Major said he could probably get the route photographed as an exercise for trainees.
One Sunday morning, some weeks later, after the morning Church service, Bob handed me an envelope. In it were around 25 black and white prints (16,5cm x 12,8cm i.e. 6,5inches x 5 inches) taken from a Shackleton aircraft by the Major's trainees.
I of course was quite pleased at this present and asked Bob to thank the Major for me. However, on closer examination I found that the quality of the photos left much to be desired. There was another snag - the "sequencing" of the photos was erratic and difficult to work out so it was difficult to actually get a reasonable "montage" effect with them. But, I was very grateful for the Major's effort and never ever mentioned my disappointment to Bob.
The idea had never left me, so I was therefore rather pleased when I discovered some Satellite photos on the Internet a couple of years ago. More recently, I discovered Aerial photographs available for purchase from the "Chief Directorate, Surveys and Mapping" in Mowbray. Some of these Satellite and Aerial photos can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate buttons below:
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