A day in the life of a Kenya pilot chartering 'heli-safaris' - Business Insider

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A day in the life of a pilot in Kenya who juggles chartering the wealthiest 1% and celebrities like Sir David Attenborough on 'heli-safaris' with crop-spraying and rescue missions (by markjellwood)

in Nanyuki in northern Kenya. Born and brought up in the area, where his father was a crocodile hunter who turned to fish farming, he's been involved in aviation on and off ever since he left school at 15.Roberts started working for a local farmer handling machine maintenance at his various farms, and learned to fly to make it quicker and easier to commute between the far-flung locales.

to fly over the insects in the early morning while they're still roosting; they won't usually take off looking for food until around 10 a.m.Prepping the helicopter."You fly through an area and look for vegetation where everything's red, the color of the locusts. You can see where a swarm is straightaway," he said.

Roberts usually sprays for four or five hours, returning regularly to the airstrip to refuel and replenish his supply of chemicals. The dangers occur if the locusts take off and begin to bombard the plane. He's already flown a handful this year, his first operating them with the travel specialist, and more are booked as travel continues to return in 2021.Roberts offers two kinds of trips via Roar Africa. There are the half- or full-day adventures, which range around his local region in northern Kenya, for $8,500 and $15,000 respectively for up to five adults.

"They're expensive trips, but these are out-of-the-way places that very few people get to see," he said. A 10-day journey like this starts around $76,000 per person for a couple.Roberts and Sir David Attenborough.Mostly, though, he'll be idle during the height of the day — and the heat — but that isn't always the case. If he isn't taking wealthy guests on day-long heli-safaris, he could instead be working with a documentary film crew.

Some of his rescue missions have been even riskier. Roberts has long worked with independent medical humanitarian organization"They're one of the most effective NGOs anywhere, and so quick to respond," he said. He dropped staff in Mozambique duringas a result of cyclones Idai and Kenneth. "They jump out of the helicopter with rucksacks and no idea where they'll sleep and just start fixing people up," he said.

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