Yeah, for me, the problem was that I landed in a herd of gazelles, and that's all quite nice, it looks beautiful how they scatter like that, but when you land, you think to yourself—the first thing in my head was lions, oh my god, lions, lions, buffaloes, elephants, and the other colleague, he landed about five kilometers away, and over the broken radio reception, he kept saying, yeah, he kept saying he saw an elephant and he was going to disappear behind a tree, hide, and oh god, he was scared for his life and so on.
Podz-Glidz, the Lu-Glidz podcast.
Stories from the cosmos of paragliding.
Today with Veit
Kessen and
Lucian Haas at the microphone.
Kenya was a highly sought-after winter flight destination for the paragliding scene for many years. Every January, numerous long-distance-hungry pilots from Europe traveled to the so-called Kirio Valley to fly personal or even globally valid records in power-sawing mode along the nearly 100-kilometer-long rock edge. Gregory Knudsen, for example, set the still-valid speed world record there on January 19, 2014, for a 200-kilometer out-and-back flight, with an average speed of over 36 km/h. However, it has quieted down in recent years. Flights from Kenya hardly appear in the XC databases anymore. Among the reasons for this are three fatalities.
The ones that happened in Kirio in 2018. They were apparently a deterrent for many pilots, but they were also a turning point for the local paragliding scene in Kenya. Because all of a sudden, paragliding was in the media—albeit with bad news—and thus on the radar of the Kenyan aviation authority. They were then on the warpath to ban what they saw as the illegal activities of the paragliders. One person who did a lot to ensure things turned out differently is Veit Kässen. The 49-year-old with German-Indian roots was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Kenyan paragliding association. Today, he is its chairman. In this episode number 77 of Podz-Glidz, Veit tells us about that time.
The wild years of Kirio, the sudden end, and the effort to steer paragliding in Kenya into more orderly channels since then. Nevertheless, paragliding in Kenya is and remains an adventure. With its very own risks. Anyone who drowns must already fear landing right next to an elephant. That has already happened to Veit. And it's not the only exciting bush pilot story he has in store. If you enjoy this podcast, then please support my work as a patron. You can find out how easy that is on the support page of my blog's website, Lu-Glidz.
Veit, we're at the beginning of February, right now as we're speaking. That means, as far as I know, it's the dry season in Kenya. Does that mean you can go flying every day?
First of all, thanks a lot for inviting me onto your podcast. I'd love to. It's currently the dry season. February is actually the hottest time until April. It's very, very dry. But since we're at the equator, the wind is primarily coming from the northeast right now. That's also called the Kaskasi wind. And since we're here near Nairobi on the east side of the East African Rift, we have the east wind here. And flying isn't as optimal as when the wind comes from the southeast. Okay, I'll explain it like this: at the equator, the southeast wind is from May to October.
And during this period, the flying conditions are better than in the season from December to April. So it's not ideal, but it's flyable.
But if you look at it, January and February are actually—if you look at the XContest and other things—they're always considered the months when Kenya is best to fly. Where we also used to find that January was the month when suddenly Kenya would be right at the front of the rankings in the XContest, and so many people would always go to Kenya. And say, I have to get into the air in the Carrier Valley and then really ride huge distances. But looking at it that way, would you actually say that's not even the optimal time to go there?
Yes, absolutely. January is the best time for the Carrier Valley, definitely. I was just talking about my location near Nairobi. In the Carrier Valley, the wind conditions are best in January because the wind is picking up. It's not too strong yet, and it's not too weak either. So the northeast wind is just starting to build, and mid-January to the end of January is the optimal time to fly there.
But if you look at Carrier Valley now, it really experienced a massive boom. At least, that was my impression. For years, it was always the destination in January when the question was, where can you fly far? Everyone would always say you have to go to Carrier or something like that. And that lasted for a few years, and then it somehow just stopped all at once. What happened there?
I witnessed that firsthand. I mean, I went to Carrier Valley for the first time in 2013. Absolute beginner with my Ozone -Bus. I went there with friends and the local pilots from Nairobi, who go there every year. We still do that. So as a small group, sometimes alone, sometimes with two or three people, and we camp there for one or two weeks. Usually in mid-January. And it was a real happening. I mean, we can say intermediate pilots came there, and there were paraglider groups from Germany, Russia, I don't know, Czech Republic, USA. Even Persians were there, so larger groups.
And they flew actual record flights. It was quite an experience. Even finding a spot to lay out your glider at 7 a.m. was difficult because there was so much going on. Yeah, yeah. We also had a colleague who had a midair collision with another paraglider. He ended up landing in a tree that time. So there was really a lot going on. Also many tandem flights. There were three or four tandem pilots taking passengers up all day. I'd say there were about 50 to 100 paragliders being laid out like that every day.
Okay. Kira Valley was mainly, I think, a launch site that was always used. There's a hotel right next to it. I think it's called Kira View. Yeah. And then there was the launch site. Were all those foreign pilots who were there always staying in that hotel? And was that like a big paraglider community where everyone would meet there in the evening? Or how did that work?
From what I saw, before 2018, the Kira View Hotel was always fully booked. But there's also another camp nearby called Lellin Camp. That's further down, so somehow near the landing field, one level below the valley. That was also completely booked out. We had trouble finding a campsite at the camp because it was full. And then the Kilima Resort opened. They were also always fully booked. That came a bit later.
You just said, yeah, until 2018. What happened in 2018 that caused such a break?
Yeah, the absolute shocker. So up until that point, there had been incidents of minor crashes again and again. But as far as I've witnessed, there was never a fatality. A death never happened out there. And that fatality went straight through the media. And I didn't know anything about it either. From 2018 onwards, I was at home and then a colleague, a safari colleague, sent me a photo via WhatsApp of a newspaper article about a German pilot who crashed. Here at Torok Waterfall. And that was already a huge shock. Because until then, we had all believed, yeah, paragliding, well, sure, you can
you can have an accident. But, I mean, dying in the Kirio Valley, that doesn't happen. And that was, that was a difficult time. And then shortly after, the tandem pilot crashed. And that was, that got even closer, because the tandem pilot was a good friend of friends, so of paragliding. And they had been paragliding with them in the Burana Conservancy a few nights before. With the whole family. And they then shortly after, so the pilot and the passenger then shortly after crashed. And she was also in this climbing club in Nairobi. I think she was the head of the climbing club.
And that was also personal, it hit very close to home.
And those were two, or rather three, deaths that occurred there in early 2018 within a single month. And that caused paragliding in Cairo Valley to really drop off. Like, people said, we're not coming back anymore.
Yes, what was interesting—or rather, what was shocking about the whole thing—was that it was very difficult to find the bodies of the deceased. And then to recover the bodies there as well. To recover them, yes. To recover them. And that was when you really noticed that Cairo Valley is already very far out. So somehow, it's a very remote place. And then, we were there in January 2019, so a year later, empty. We were there in mid-January this year, so mid-January we were there now. There were a few Czechs there.
But at the beginning, let's say from mid-January until about January 20th, we were three paragliding in the air. So no bookings, nothing at all. And that was already four years ago.
Corona might also play a role here. But still, it's really something you could say, okay, you didn't go from 100 down to zero. But out of 100 paragliding pilots, where you say so many of them were launching from a launch site, it's really just gone "whoosh" down to three, five, maybe ten people who then fly there. Yes. Back in 2018, I even wrote about these accidents on Looglights, my blog; it was titled Crash Site Kirio. Where people also wrote, yeah, maybe it's a bit of a sensational title, but what I described did indeed correspond to the conditions there.
What I also wrote there, I had read in the media that it was being discussed at the time—banning paragliding in Kenya. So, there were corresponding discussions. How did those discussions go? Was it, I mean, a real danger that paragliding could have been banned in Kenya?
Yes, that was a very, very big danger. I was, at that time, I worked as a bush pilot at Wilson Airport. Or briefly also the years before. And I had good contact with a colleague who wanted to introduce motorized paragliding. He was very active and was in a lot of contact with the aviation authority. And I was also in a few meetings. He wanted, he had the plan, to introduce paragliding into the aviation authority's regulations, I don't know anymore, into the legislation.
So that it somehow gets legalized, that you can fly there? Exactly,
that it gets legalized.
And he called me after he sent me the newspaper article about the three pilots. And he told me quite clearly that the aviation authority, that the head of the aviation authority, intends to completely ban paragliding in Kenya. Because until that point, the aviation authority didn't know that so many tourists were flying in Kenyan airspace without a permit every year. And my colleague then told me that the aviation authority requested accident reports for the three fatalities. They wanted someone to tell them exactly what happened.
Because at the time of the crash, few people knew, or the authorities didn't know, who the pilot and the passenger were. And that's why there was a major investigation. And the deadline from the aviation authority was the end of the week, which was Monday, when I got the call that I should write the accident reports or they would ban the sport.
That was like a gun to the head. Yeah. Either we get the accident reports and know what went down there, or you're not allowed to do it at all—or what it means is, you're not allowed to fly anymore. Exactly. That means within a week, you really had to... Yeah. Write three or two accident reports about three deaths.
Yes, I first showed you my paragliding accident reports. And they read through them and said, okay, that's fine as it is. Then I forwarded them to my colleague, and he passed them on to the aviation authority. And the response came that okay, that's a good start. And you have to get organized by the end of the year. You have to somehow found an association to store the flight tourists'... data of the flight tourists, so that the aviation authorities know exactly who is flying in Kenyan airspace.
That means you have to... who are you guys now? Paragliding Kenya, right?
Yes, you're practically hippie paragliders. We should organize ourselves, start an association. And they were very firm about us designing a website where every pilot who arrives in Kenya and wants to fly can enter their details—tourist visa, their name, first and last name. Because they don't want any complications if an accident happens. They don't want to be asked, who is this guy and...
And then they have no clue, roughly. Instead, they can say, "Ah, let's look at the list. Who signed up there?" and say, "Yes, that must be pilot XY from Germany, Switzerland, or whatever." Yes. That means some of you paragliders from Kenya joined forces and actually founded an association?
Yeah, yeah. At that time, I was actually terrified that the sport would be banned. Because I just love paragliding. And in Kenya, Kenya is really a paradise for paragliding. There are many paragliding sites. And yeah, it's always a very beautiful safari adventure to fly a paraglider. And I was just scared that the sport would be banned and was practically the leader in founding the association. And that was very difficult, because you can either found an association in Kenya or a club. And for a sports club, you have to go to the Ministry of Sport.
Mhm. It's very difficult to register a sports club. There's a lot of paperwork, and it takes years. And you might have to pay one person or another. And I've already heard from many people that it's actually impossible if you don't have a lot of capital. And the other thing is just founding an association. But the association—an association in Kenya is non-sporting, so it has nothing to do with sports. Okay. But it's very simple. So it costs around 30 euros to register, very little paperwork. They do a name search and then it goes quite quickly. And I had to first explain to the authorities what paragliding is. And I had to insist that we aren't actually a sports club, but a group of people who discuss paragliding and so on.
Okay. That means you now officially have an association where flying isn't really the main focus, but rather, whatever it is, the intellectual exchange about it.
No, well, as soon as we're registered, we can actually start our sporting activities. So we're practically an official association now. But for the registration, there were many who put up some resistance. They said, no, no, no. I was told that I should form a club instead. And that's actually impossible in Kenya.
Kenya has about 20 to 25 active paragliders. And to start a sports club, you need more than that.
So, you're now an association, in English that's an Association, probably the Paragliding Association of Kenya or whatever. Exactly, exactly. And do you have a website now? And if someone travels to Kenya now, do you have, as probably required, this form where they should register?
Exactly, exactly. There's a website, the website is paraglidingkenia.or.ke. Or you can just type Paragliding Association of Kenia into Google, and it'll take you there. And there's a membership form. And there you enter your name. And your, yeah, your contact email, next of kin.
And the color of his paraglider is very important. The authority told us that too. That means if there's an accident and they're looking for someone, they look at the color of the paraglider to see roughly who the person might be. And the whole thing, I mean, to be a member of the association costs 25 dollars a year.
That means if someone were to travel to Kenya now, they would have to get an annual membership from you, pay those 25 dollars. And then they're registered for Kenya and allowed to fly there. Exactly. How many—I mean, not that many tourists or paraglider tourists are coming into the country right now—but how many of them do you estimate actually know about this and really register with you? Or is most of it still basically seen as illegal flying happening there?
It's still illegal flying. Because the aviation authority hasn't given us any authority yet. They haven't written a letter saying that we're actually authorized to manage ourselves. Self-regulation. That hasn't been given to us yet. That means most pilots know nothing about it. What we do as an association is like in the Kirio Valley, like the Kirio View Hotel owner who knows about us. And also, the others in the different hotels, they know about us. And they then point out to the pilots to become members. Most of them just don't do it.
They just don't register. Because they probably want to save those 25 dollars.
probably want to save.
Exactly, they want to save the 25 dollars. But if something happens to them, I hope nothing happens to them. But if something does happen, I would say, as, as the club, as Chairman here. So if, if the aviation authority then approaches me about it. Then I'd say, this person didn't want to. And we also have no authority to practically force them to. Like for example with the DHV or, or in South Africa, in South Africa, if you go to different paragliding sites, you have to show that you are a member. Otherwise, you can't take off there.
You just said that there are about 25 active paragliding pilots in Kenya. Are those mainly Kenyans? So, from a German perspective, are they all black pilots? Or are they actually more like expats, you know, white people who went to Kenya to do some business? Sent out, or something, who say, I learned paragliding in Europe and now I want to do it in Kenya too. And ultimately, that's the group of people who make up the active ones there.
Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So it's, it's more European, American, American nationalities, so here, Brits in general. So Kenyans, meaning Black people, in that sense there are two, one man and one woman. But otherwise, most of them are white with Kenyan citizenship.
And where did they learn paragliding then? I mean, is it even possible to learn paragliding in Kenya, or is it just learning by doing? Or do they go to Europe at some point and say, I'll do a course at some normal paragliding school over there somewhere?
Many of them, the active paragliding pilots, just taught themselves. There are also the older ones from the 90s who basically just jumped off a mountain into the bush somewhere. And then there's the group of pilots who got their license in Europe, or also many who got their license in South Africa. There is no school in Kenya that officially teaches paragliding. But we are working on it. So what we—what the association is working on—is to issue a paragliding license. Basically, to give a license to those who have been flying for a long time but didn't have the money or the time to go to an official school in Europe.
Mhm.
And the
...they just determine his level based on his skills and a syllabus that we also submitted to the aviation authority. So, whether he's IP, sometimes it's this IPPI system. Like, is he IPPI 1, 2, 3,
4 or 5. Do you also plan to offer something as an association in any way so that people could learn from you? Like, local people who say, "Oh, I'll register with the Paragliding Association, they should teach me." Would that be possible?
Yes, it's absolutely possible. So, myself and also a few colleagues. We like teaching the local Kenyans ground handling. So with older gliders. But then we usually, there's always a conflict because we have three of them who can now do ground handling very well and want to fly. But we don't have any flyable paragliders. And that's where it comes in, the pilot just has to invest money. So then spend 3,000 to 4,000 euros on a glider, I don't know. We can also order the equipment for him, but usually they give up. Simply because it's just too expensive. I don't know, it's similar in Europe too.
Everyone wants to go paragliding, but few actually have the desire to then buy a paraglider and go flying. Those are special people who then...
invest money. Yes, it's money, but above all it's the time you invest, because you also have to stick with it.
You're in Nairobi now, if I see that correctly. How often do you usually go flying?
Actually every weekend. During the season, so in the European summer. From June to October, I'm actually out there every weekend. Two hours north of Nairobi, we have a home spot called Kijabe Hill. And that works actually all year round. But now in the dry season, it's not relaxed paragliding, but more active, advanced paragliding. That's real flatland cross country weather. That
means also relatively strong, hard thermals at times, also because it's so dry and the dry air is correspondingly more turbulent.
Definitely, and it can also develop very quickly within 10 or 20 minutes. I once took off at Kijabe Hill at 10 a.m. in this season in good air, so already in thermal air. And 20 minutes later, I was pulled into a cloud over the mountain. So it happens very fast. In the season from June to October, you can enjoy paragliding more. More so with beginners, also with people who have less flight experience. But now, it's more the XContest guys who are out there. Guys and girls who are flying cross-country.
What's it like during this rainy season? Is it impossible to fly because it rains every day at 12 o'clock? Or what does that look like? Would it also be possible to say that you can get into the air somewhere in Kenya all year round?
No, it's quite difficult during the rainy season. It's a monsoon, so it just rains. And it's also, I mean, Kijabe Hill is at 2,600 meters. That means Kijabe Hill is normally in the clouds during the rainy season too. So it's very foggy. And then there's the wind, the wind shifts during the rainy season. But always, I mean, in Kenya, it's best to fly shortly after the rainy season. When everything is nice and calm, everything is nice and green, then it's
it's optimal to fly. That means the ground is still a bit damp, the thermals don't develop quite as quickly and aren't as intense, and so on. Yeah. Looking at the spring, that would be early January, where you say it's still the best time, right?
Yes, early January or mid-January is good for the east side, for the west side of the East African Rift. So Kirio Valley and so on. That's very good. But for the hotspot Kijabe Hill, the wind then turns to the north and then it's just cowboy flying.
Let's talk a bit more about Kirio. From your perspective, what is it that makes flying in Kirio so fascinating? Just describe the landscape there a little bit.
Have you ever been to Kirio?
No, unfortunately I haven't, I know pictures and stuff, but I haven't been there yet.
There are so many bucket lists, they're so long, and while Kirio is on there, I don't know if I'll ever get around to checking that off. But it would probably be interesting.
Yes, definitely. I mean, it's already a—I'd call it a magical place, one of many magical places, yeah, you could say, with so many possibilities. You have so many options there. Yes, yes, you have many options. Yes, it's just a very defined ridge. The ridge that has the best wind conditions is from the east. And the ridge runs straight south and north. It goes about 50 to 100 kilometers south and north. That means you really have a
endless soaring
-edge. Exactly. And from the launch site, for example from the top of the Kirio View Hotel or Kilima Resort, if you look down into the valley, into the Kirio Valley, the difference in height is sometimes even greater than 1,000 meters. So, practically, when you just look into the valley, it's as if you're looking into the deep sea. It's a huge valley, so it's just big. Just looking at it is an experience in itself. And then flying into this landscape and gliding along the slope is quite an experience. If you fly out to the south or north, you're often over a valley. Over a very natural rainforest or over, yeah,
just beautiful scenery and a very vast landscape. So, every time I fly there, I feel very, very small. It's just... you're like a grain of dust in such a huge landscape. And you're also very exposed to the conditions, I'd say. The thermals are stronger, too. You also have a lot of unpredictability; sometimes the wind is unpredictable or the thermals are unpredictable. It's really exciting to fly there.
You also said earlier, yeah, it's already full at the launch site at seven in the morning. Sometimes you have problems getting your... Or back then, when there were so many people flying there, they had problems. I mean, at seven in the morning in the Alps, no one is going to have the idea to stand at a launch site in the hundreds. Does that really happen already at seven in the morning? I mean...
At seven in the morning, there are no thermals. There's just a very light or, okay, let's say, I don't know, five to ten kilometers per hour wind coming from the east, so an east wind normally comes up the slope. And because the slope is very steep, you don't actually need much wind to glide. But it does start at seven o'clock. So it is already... I normally land at half past ten, eleven o'clock, because then it really... brutal, then the brutal thermals come in. So if it's around noon, it already pulls you up.
Okay, that means in the morning hours, Kirio is sort of even beginner-friendly, so to speak. You still have really relatively gentle conditions there and don't have any problems with that. And the stuff where it says the crash site or whatever, because it's those strong thermals and turbulence, you can also avoid that if you start early. And then land relatively early too and say, okay, I'll just spare myself that heavy midday period.
Yes, well, I'd say, yeah, you could say that. I mean, I've had my best flights from seven to nine, nine, ten o'clock. It just depends on what you want. If I want calm air, if I just want to watch the Colobus monkeys basking on the rocks, on the boulders, in the morning at sunrise, then it's seven to nine. It's just absolutely magical. But that said, it also depends on where you fly, I mean, where along the slope you fly. It's exactly the same as saying driving is safe, but if I close my eyes, I can also drive at 10 km/h and have an accident. And that's the same as in the Kirio Valley. So, I think, from my perspective, that most accidents happen at the site of the Torok Waterfall.
And those three accidents happened there. And that's simply because of the way the slope is oriented towards the Torok Waterfall when you're flying south. And then, the slope cuts into a large basin. So
a basin.
Yes, a kettle, exactly, a kettle. And there, when the wind picks up a bit, there are rotors. And you have to either—I've never flown further—I always keep my distance. But many pilots tell me it's good to find a thermal, climb way up, and then over the water, over this kettle
to fly across, probably.
Exactly, exactly.
Okay, so those are the morning times where you say it's still calmer. However, you have to be careful with certain terrain features because the wind can still form rotors there. Does it become like in the afternoon—meaning, also in the Alps, that beginners should avoid the midday, heavy thermals time—and then in the afternoon, the calmer conditions return, or those with the larger thermals and stuff? Is that the case in the Kerio Valley too? Is there something like magical air towards the evening, or what does it look like there?
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. So from about 4 o'clock onwards, it's also magic air—really pleasant soaring air. So when the thermals drop and the rest of the wind comes up, it's very, very magic. That is, until sunset. That
it means that all this warm air from that wide valley, which is 1,000 meters deeper, gets pushed over there, then pushed against this slope, and then probably releases over a very large area.
Yes, exactly, exactly, the residual thermals. But I have to say, what was shocking about that tandem accident was that the pilot was very experienced and that they took off early in the morning, I think it was before 9 a.m. And then something happened. That shocked me personally because I thought, I'm flying in here safely and I could die right now. And yes, something can happen even if you take off early in the morning at Kyrio. But it also depends. I'm more of the opinion that if you don't want to fly in rotors, then you should stay away from this basin.
I heard that because we've been talking about Kyrio and that Kyrio Hotel all this time, that overcrowded launch site is currently no longer launchable. So that it's closed. Is there any truth to that?
Yes, there's some truth to that. That happened last year.
Somehow there was, or there was a dispute between the hotel owner and the landowner, the neighbor. Somehow they couldn't get along. And the landowner then built a fence across the launch site and then plowed the entire land and set up a hut for herself. The local pilots, the Kenyan pilots who fly there every day, they take off over the fence. It's still possible, but it's a safety risk. So the launch site is lost. They are currently in court and I hope that will be resolved soon.
will be. But for that to happen, basically, the fence would have to be removed, but also the hut, so that people can take off from there properly again.
Exactly. There's another launch site at the Kilima Resort, a bit further south. That's also a very small hotel, run by a Dutch couple with three kids, very sweet. And they have a larger field next to their resort where you can also camp. And that's where we started from this year as well.
Can you still launch there even if you're not staying in a hotel? Like, do they just say, "Just walk through, the launch site is there, go for it"? Or do you have to be booked into that hotel to be allowed to launch from there?
As far as I know, you just have to enter the grounds, so through the gate. And then they ask for a small starting fee. But it's very small, yes.
But is that the only launch site left in the end?
Yes, there are still several wild launch sites. For example, we've also been south of the Torak waterfall. We took off from there too. But that's all a bit of a trek through the bush with a backpack and then somehow finding your launch site. So there are multiple. But for a civilized launch site, Kilima Resort is the only one now on the edge.
That means, from that perspective, Kirio is also a bit limited in terms of what you could still fly there. Or by the number of pilots the terrain might still handle in terms of launch sites.
Yes, well, Kirio View Hotel was the official launch site. There's even a sign there. It says Kirio View Hotel Paragliding. And it was a pretty large launch site. So Kilima Resort isn't as accessible and also, yeah, it's just not the main launch site of Kirio Garden.
Let's change the subject a bit and just talk about you. Tell me, how did you actually end up coming to Kenya?
So, in short, my father is a development worker. He worked for the GDZ back then. And I came to Kenya at the age of eight. Before that, we were in Tunisia for five years. My father is a civil engineer and then also worked in development aid here in Kenya. Yes, I came to Kenya at eight and was enrolled in the German school in Nairobi. And I learned German in Kenya. It's also
very... But mainly in school, or did your father probably always speak German with you too? Yes,
less, less. So the mother tongue was more English on my mother's side. But I basically learned German properly here. And I was here from 1980 to 1992, and I also did my Abitur here.
A German Abitur, but at the German school in Kenya, in Nairobi. Yes, exactly, exactly. And then you studied in Germany? Exactly.
Studied, worked. And then I came back in 2011.
Was that a coincidence, or did your heart just long for Kenya and you said, "That's actually my childhood country, my dream country, I have to go back there"?
Yes, it was more like my childhood sweetheart. She was still here and I came back on vacation and we reunited, we got back together. And then I decided to move to Kenya and move in with her. A woman is to blame.
Yeah. But that's also a nice reason. Now, if Kenya is your home and your great love is there too, but what is it about this country that fascinates you?
For one thing, I grew up in Nairobi. So, I know the city. We went on safari a lot as children and also as teenagers. What keeps me in Kenya are the people, the people and their warmth. And then there's the freedom. The freedom you have here. I mean, here, if you have some money, you have more freedom than in Europe. You can travel much more into the country, you can meet people. So, it's very—you could put it this way—it's very adventurous. You get some very beautiful impressions.
You also briefly mentioned it just now. You worked as a bush pilot for a while. What does that actually mean, bush pilot?
So, I got my private pilot license in Tannheim. And then I went to the States. And I got my commercial license there. And then I went to Kenya. When I got to Kenya, I converted the license to a Kenyan license. Yeah, converted it. Converted it. And then on top of that, I did a Cessna Caravan rating. So for the Cessna 208, the 14-seater aircraft. And I planned to establish myself here as a bush pilot. And I practically worked here as a bush pilot, but as a co-pilot. And I practically flew hours, I flew hours.
To get to the 1,000 hours. Now, what's the difference between...
Pilot and bush pilot? Aha,
So it was general aviation. I'm not an airline pilot, but more of a pilot who works for a charter company. Or for a company that does ad-hoc flights, which you can book on an ad-hoc basis. So practically, I flew in South Sudan for a company for six, for eight weeks. From Juba. And there, every day or every other day, depending on how long the flights were, a customer would come and say, we have two coffins here now. And we have to fly them out to a village for a funeral. Or money for the soldiers at the front.
Because the road system isn't very well developed, there are many charter bush pilots who just fly from A to B. So basically, you fly into the bush. That
That sounds very adventurous now. Even if you say things like, money to soldiers at the front and stuff like that. Are you an adventure type? I mean, do you seek out adventure?
I'm looking for the experience. Yes, definitely. So, yeah, I'm looking for the adventure, yes. I found it very exciting, but I've put the whole thing on the back burner,
because it was very family-unfriendly. And it didn't make that much money either. That was one thing. I put in more money than I somehow got out. But as an experience, an unforgettable experience. So it was very adventurous, yeah.
What was the most exciting story from your time as a bush pilot?
The most exciting story, or the most intense one, was when we flew from Juba to a refugee camp. And there, several times,
...for clothes, cigarettes, and alcohol, and some merchants needed us to fly goods into the refugee camp. So, private goods. One day we landed on an absolutely muddy bush strip that was also controlled by the UN. So there were some UN soldiers standing around. Blue helmets. And on one occasion when we landed there, a child soldier came by with his platoons. They all looked like they were out of a movie. Like, with Ray-Bans, rubber boots, and a trench coat, but with a pistol in their hand and they were 14 years old. And they were already very shady, you know.
And the captain told me not to look them in the eye. Then a UN soldier came over and said, watch out, it's been reported that some kind of attack on the refugee camp is happening tonight. And we have a group of people here who want to get out with you. And then, they stormed the plane. Children, women, men, they did it... as if it were a bus. We had to... we all got on the plane, well, we tried to get on the plane. We kept them all out. And then we were only... we only took people who had paid. And then two boys, two boys about seven, eight years old, they sneaked in and hid under a seat.
And after landing in Juba... Yeah, it was a very bumpy start too. The plane was completely overloaded on that mud strip. We barely made it out. And then the captain told me over the headset that the UN soldier had also said the rebels are on the ground down there and they have anti-aircraft bazookas, I don't know. So... So we could be shot down right now. That was somehow... the whole experience was for me... Yeah.
Was that also a reason why you said maybe I should hang it up? Yes. Yes, among other things, yes. With your experience as a bush pilot, so also your experience with air masses and other things you do there, and because you fly around so wildly and probably also frequently fly relatively low to the ground and stuff like that in certain areas. Is there experience from that where you'd say you also benefit from it today as Gleitschirm-Blog?
Hmm.
Yeah, well, in any case...
I don't even know.
Or is it something else, because you're saying it's motorized, so in the end, you're dealing with a completely different beast?
So definitely. I mean, the physics... the physics of flying becomes clearer to you when you fly in different aircraft or with different gliders, or even when you're sitting in a plane flying through air masses. I think flying has taught me something, even from a psychological side, about entering a state where you keep your cool even if something gets out of control. And you try to manage that in the air. So we also once with the... we landed in Juba in a heavy thunderstorm and we were in a downdraft.
The plane was practically... it went from horizontal flight into a dive of 45 degrees or even more. Okay. And I remember quite clearly how the captain told me I should just... I should... You have the controls. So I kept control. And I tried to keep the plane up. But in all of that... and we saw nothing. We were completely inside the cloud. And that was a heavy experience. But in all of that... after that experience, I realized that we stayed absolutely cool. There was no panic in the cockpit at all. It was just... we practically saved ourselves. But through very clear instructions, which mostly came from the captain. He just told me exactly what I should do. And I just did it.
I don't think my heart rate even went up. I mean, I never panicked. And I sometimes experience that with paragliding, when I get into a situation where... That happened to me last week. On the mountain, I tried to find a thermal. And nothing happened. And then I slowly entered a thermal. And then it hit four, five meters per second. Suddenly I was in the thermal. And then I was standing in the thermal. And... I mean, with the paraglider into the wind. And I was just pulled up. Four, five meters per second. And you already feel a bit out of control. I mean, the vario was screaming. And I was just hanging there... And I looked up at the cloud. And the cloud was gray at the top.
Yeah, and then I... I mean, I... But I put myself back into that state. Okay, this is a situation you've never been in. Just stay cool. Just stay cool. Keep the glider above your head. And it'll be fine. And that would be exactly it. Yeah.
I think with normal flying, there's that one motto, like "fly the aircraft." So as a pilot, you always have to stay in control and really say, I'm continuing to fly now. Exactly. And even if it looks like shit right now, I'm trying to at least do that first. And not giving up at this point, but just sticking with it. And that's probably one of the important things you learn then. Are there also things like... I mean, especially when you... These classic pilots also learn a lot of routines where you say... So also safety routines or check routines where you say, I really go through checklists and stuff like that. Are those things where you say, I also transfer something like that to my paragliding? Or are they ultimately felt to be different things, where you say, well, as soon as I get into a motorized aircraft, I go through my lists.
But if I start on a slope with a paraglider, that's a different thing for me. Hm, interesting.
So the first thing I think is, in a plane, I'm... when flying, I'm more certain that the checklist will save my life. Also, generally looking at the plane from the outside before you take off. Looking at the engine, the prop, and everything, physically touching it and making sure it's all in one piece. With paragliding, it's a bit different because it's just a simple aircraft. But... I do think, I do think I have, I have more safety concerns. Or I think very strongly about what I'm actually intending to do in that moment before I take off.
I mean, I know it's not like getting on a bike. I think to myself, of course, it's like in a plane, this is something serious. This could be your last flight, I think that every time. And that's why now, but now focus, that everything here... I mean, I do go through my five-point checklist. But I didn't choose it now. I wrote it down on a piece of paper.
Where did you actually learn paragliding? And when was that? So, did you learn it in Kenya too, like your other colleagues who say, "I went wild bush flying there and then at some point I could do it more or less?"
No, no, no. I learned at the Wasserkuppe. At the Papillon paragliding school, yeah. And two years before that, I was at the Tegelberg, I did a basic course there. But the A-license, which I did at the Wasserkuppe, was the paragliding. The real course. Yeah, 2000... That's 2008 or
So I did it. Or 2007. That means you already learned paragliding before you got your private pilot license?
Yes, definitely, yeah. But I only flew actively after getting my private pilot license. Like, properly, you know, once I came to Kenya and all that.
So, Kenya really only became your flight spot then, where you'd say, that's what was exciting.
Yeah, it was also interesting for the A-license, I never really understood that. In Germany, for the A-license, you only have to pull forward. You don't learn it at all, so I never learned pulling backward. And when I teach someone ground handling, the first thing I tell them is, pull forward, forget about it. Pulling backward is the most important thing of all because you have control at every moment of the pull. Whereas with pulling forward, you're basically running towards the slope blind at first. So, that's my...
In my opinion. But maybe it also has to do with the fact that you probably have a lot of wind in Kenya and rarely have days where there's no wind at all. Yes.
Since we also touched on the risks of flying and stuff like that, let's talk about the dangers of flying in Kenya. In Keuri, we already had, okay, there's wind and especially this mix of strong thermals and turbulence and the different basin-shaped terrain indentations where there can also be those rotors. But especially when you're pulling forward like that. Kenya, wild land, you mentioned safari and stuff. What about dangers like, I land somewhere and there are wild animals or something? Is that a real danger, or is it just a danger that you imagine from a European perspective?
Yes, it is, there's a real, well, there's a danger to your life there. So for one thing, I'd say, where we fly, few people have flown there. And that's one thing. And in the end, also. So it's an absolutely foreign place. It's practically like the Ex-Alps, starting somewhere where no one has ever flown before. Although, what's different about the Ex-Alps is that in Kenya, it's just that you start in very remote locations. So practically, if something happens to you there, it might take a day or two until you somehow get out. And the other thing is also, yes, of course. So you sneak up to a launch site.
Where buffaloes were just five minutes before. And yeah, he laughs a bit with his friend. Like, "Hey, so do you think there are buffaloes here?" "Yeah, let's see." So that's how you start. That's one danger. And then there's also the other thing, landing is very interesting. We were flying in Lolldeigas last year. And that's also a slope. And down in the valley, there's a park. There are lions, elephants, giraffes, and everything else. And our first rule was, okay, we do a top landing. We only do top landings. We don't land in the valley. And all three of us started with radios. Super nice. And then at some point, I don't know what happened, but somehow I ended up landing down in the valley.
And then the Cyborg also called out over the radio, "Where are you?" And I said, "I'm here and here." And he said, "I'm landing near you too." But for me, the problem was that I landed over a herd of gazelles. And that's all quite nice. It looks beautiful how they scatter like that. But when you land, you think to yourself—the first thing in my head was lions. Oh my god, lions. Lions, buffaloes, elephants. And yeah, it took us three hours to get to the camp. So we walked back. And the other colleague landed about five kilometers away. And he received it over the broken radio, he kept saying he saw an elephant. And that he was now hiding behind a tree. And oh god, he was scared for his life and all that.
That was really intense.
Is there some kind of additional safety equipment you take with you? Like, if you're out there as a paraglider bush pilot, by necessity. Do you all have a revolver with you for self-defense or something? Or I don't know, maybe an electric taser. I don't know if you could ward off a lion with that or I don't know what.
No, we don't. I have a whistle with me. I got that after that experience, just to have something to ward off a buffalo or an elephant. But I don't think you can do anything if a buffalo charges at you. What we have here is an insurance policy, a helicopter evacuation insurance. So, that's Flying Doctors.
So, in an emergency, if you get injured out there somewhere, they'll come pick you up in a helicopter. It's a local service and every flight tourist should have it. It's the only safety net that if something happens, like you break your leg, you'll be flown to a hospital pretty quickly.
But is that like a private club or something, these Flying Doctors?
It's not a private club, it's an insurance. It costs 25 dollars a year. Oh, that's cheap. Yeah, or 16 dollars for a month. And it's very easy to register online. You're insured immediately. You then provide your WhatsApp PIN or some kind of PIN. You call that place, give them your PIN, and they pick you up. So either by ambulance, or by plane, or by helicopter.
I mean, if you're out in the bush somewhere, because you also say many of our launch sites are maybe a bit remote—is there a network everywhere there?
No, no. For example, there's the Shooter. In the Blue Hills, you have no reception. It also happens quite often that you lose radio contact. So if you land somewhere in the thicket, you lose radio contact too. Then you're completely on your own. It's happened to me before. It's an interesting experience.
That means, away from the cities, healthcare in Kenya is probably very precarious. You might be unreachable, and other things like that. So, in a way, it's a gamble what you're getting into there. It's probably very beautiful, very adventurous. But it's also always something where you'd have to say, maybe not recommended for the very safety-conscious pilot.
I wouldn't put it that way. I mean, Kenya has a very developed infrastructure. The phone network is just like in Germany. But if you're flying in a national park where there's no signal, then you're on your own. But if you're not flying in a national park, there's normally radio reception. And the most important thing you should do, which I'd also recommend to every paraglider tourist, is that if you're doing cross-country, you should stay near a main road. Because if you land somewhere in the bush, it could be, I don't know, four, five hours or eight, or even a day to get out of there. So, first there are fences, then there are wild animals.
That can happen. But as long as you stick to the main arteries or land near them, you usually get a lift home or there are some very nice people around. You always manage to get transport out of there.
But you don't always stick to those rules yourself. Because, as you just described, Giulo Hills—that's, I think, you said it yourself, is remote somewhere in the national park. You have no signal or anything like that. And if you land there, you're standing somewhere in the bush and have to hike back to the camp for three hours. Now that sounds more like, okay, I do want a bit of adventure too.
Yes, definitely.
Have you personally experienced any really critical situations during these flights or in your paragliding in Kenya in general? Or maybe critical situations during landing where you're like, crap, I'm looking the elephant right in the eyes or something?
Yes, that happened to me in the Burana Conservancy. I landed about 20 meters from an elephant. At sunset. That's also very interesting. And to get back to the car, I practically had to hike back up the slope. And I landed. I didn't see it at all. I landed and every time you land, it suddenly becomes deathly silent in the bush. And then I hear something chewing very loudly. Like, chewing on something. And I look around and see the elephant. And he was just comfortably eating at a bush there, having his supper. And he looked over at me and just kept going.
That means he wasn't bothered at all by the weird bird that was there. Now you just said that when you land, it suddenly gets very quiet in the bush. Is that something where all the animals go silent because you've arrived as a large bird? Or does it just get quiet for you because you no longer have the flight noise?
Yeah, exactly. It's more the flight noises. I also landed in a forest clearing in the Churro Hills once. And it was all beautiful during the flight. The landing approach was perfect. And then I landed in the elephant grass and sank into it. And the elephant grass was like a meter, so 20 centimeters above me. And I couldn't see anything, just grass all around me.
Then it's like, you just stand there still for a second, like, oh shit.
And you couldn't see from above that it was a meter-high elephant grass
was? No, you couldn't see it. It was a really nice forest clearing, a beautiful green forest clearing. I just sank right into it.
That means those are the little difficulties you experience there. Now, towards the end, tell me a particularly beautiful story from your flying in Kenya, where you say it's truly uplifting and that's why it's definitely worth going to Kenya sometime. And to have those experiences there.
Oh yes, I've had many wonderful experiences. I imagine you've also had some very nice experiences with flying.
Yeah, just not in Kenya yet, I still have to do that. But now tell me, where should I go or what kind of great experiences could I basically catch up on from you?
So Kijabe Hill is very easy to get to from Nairobi. And the best experience at Kijabe Hill was, I drove up there alone two days before a competition I organized. And I arrived up there at sunset, at the launch site at 2,600 meters. And the valley floor is 600 meters lower. And it was sunset and three large Og Cebus, those eagles, were standing in the air at three, four meters high at both launch sites. They were just standing there. The air was absolutely glassy. It was incredible. It was so laminar. And I immediately dropped everything, took out the glider, and took off.
And then I spent an hour flying back and forth with these wild birds. Gliding on the soaring until the sun went down. And then I landed at the top. For me, that was a life-changing experience. It was really beautiful.
And the birds weren't afraid of you either? No,
no, no.
So before your big glider and so on. No, they
flew then. They flew off a bit to the side. And they're right, they know us there too. But then they kept flying. So sometimes one would fly out and I'd follow. And then they'd play around a bit. I'd highly recommend that if you come to Kenya. Welcome to Kijabu Hill.
But you just said, rather during the summer months. So that would be between June and September. Yes. The classics, where people normally say, yeah, when is Kenya accessible for a European? From an aviation perspective, on the plate. Well, usually, I can maybe shorten the winter, then you go in January. That's when Kirio was. Is there any other good destination besides Kirio that you can explore in Kenya by plane in January?
Not that I know of. Not that I know of. So, Kirinyaga is...
That means January already means Kenya,
Kirio. Yes. Yes. I would also highly recommend it. So generally, just for the experience. I mean, even if you're very conservative, you can do a glide path at the beginning. And then slowly, the air...
Is hike and fly in Kenya recommended, or should you already make sure that you always get to the launch site by car or that someone has who can drive you there?
Better by car. Better to get to the launch site by car, yeah.
Why? Because of the wild animals?
No, because the paragliding spots are very far away. But you can, just like in the Chulu Hills, you can practically camp and then do hike and flies. So you have a base and then you can do hike and flies, definitely. Or Kijabi, which I do often, I land at the bottom and hike up and then I fly down, fly around and land again by the car and drive home. So that works.
right. From some of the videos, like YouTube clips and Vimeo stuff I've seen from Kenya, you always see people landing and then you immediately have a huge crowd, mostly kids, hanging around you. Is that actually a, so to speak, danger for the glider? Or is it just for fun? I mean danger in the sense that they push against it, trample on your glider or something like that?
Yeah, you have to be a bit... well, on one hand, when the kids all arrive and are just happy and celebrating your landing, it's a really lovely experience. They're very happy children. But you have to manage the kids immediately. You have to set rules right away, be a bit stricter and say, hey, don't touch, because they're right there and looking at this magical piece of cloth that just flew in. They're just kids' hands, after all. And you have to keep them back a bit, but it's not a danger to your gear. They usually—or at least from what I've seen—they do listen to you if you tell them to step back a bit. Although, I once landed in a group of drunks on a Sunday afternoon near some pub, and they were really hammered.
And they were already a bit aggressive. They were older, like teenagers and such. They kept getting more aggressive, and then a motorcyclist, luckily, rescued me. He helped me pack up the paraglider and then we drove off immediately. And they were already somehow aggressive. But that was the only aggressive or only dangerous experience I've had. Okay.
What's also nice is when you land in remote places, like in the Rift Valley, and sometimes you land near a Maasai village. It's very beautiful when the children run towards you. They've never seen anything like this before and are completely surprised, so they run up to you, stand in front of you, and duck their heads. And then, practically out of respect, they do the head nod, and you have to touch their head, and then they run away. So that's a very, very beautiful experience. That
is also a greeting routine of theirs, sort of? Yes,
That's a greeting out of respect. They show you that respect, and then, once the older gentleman has touched their head, they're released and can run off again.
But if you don't touch their heads, they stay standing with their heads bowed and you've got them there by the cheek.
So they also ask for it a bit. You always touch them.
So, one more tip. If you go to Lake Nakuru. If you fly into the Rift Valley, out into the Rift Valley, land somewhere, and then the Maasai come towards you. So kids, if they bow their heads and you touch them once, then they're basically released again and you've given them the honor they need there. Veit, Kenya sounds very interesting. Thank you for the great stories about flying in Kenya. I wish you many, many more beautiful experiences that you can have there. Stay safe with the whole thing. Don't let any lions eat you or any elephants spear you. And if you ever want to fly in Europe again sometime or something, get in touch. Maybe we can go flying together somewhere here.
Yes, thank you very much Lucian Haas for letting me speak here. In any case, for all paraglider pilots: Kenya is an adventure. If you're adventurous, come and fly with us.
That was episode number 77 of Podz-Glidz, featuring Veit Kästen in conversation with Lucian Haas. In the show notes for this episode on Lu-Glidz, you will find some additional links regarding paragliding in Kerio and Kenya. The podcast Podz-Glidz is an offering of the paraglider blog Lu-Glidz. Lu-Glidz is completely ad-free online at www.Lu-Glidz.blogspot.com. Lu-Glidz writes Lu-Glidz. If you find Podz-Glidz valuable to you, then please recommend the podcast. For example, with a good rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or a post on Facebook or Instagram. Or best of all, simply in a direct conversation with your flying friends.
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