Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Phantom in southern Africa

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South Africa - Blyde River Canyon
So I returned from a month expedition to southern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia).
I had him on the way also my Phantom, and I occasionally did some shots in the air when it went and it was not too difficult.

We have passed a total of 10 different state borders, generally without problems, only one control officer said something about "espionage equipment", then called his colleagues and everyone just admiring viewed :)

Here's a little first taste, Blyde River Canyon is the 3rd largest canyon in the world (the largest in the subtropical zone), a gigantic shift in the Dragensberg Escarpment landscape formation in Mpumalanga province, in an area where the Highveld plateau falls nearly 1,000 meters to the Lowveld off the coast of the Indian Ocean in Mozambique.

Switch to the HD ( and full screen ), at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound. Any criticism is welcome ...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmrM_HMabE[/youtube]

Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Next - Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe)
 
Re: Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Flying with Phantom in Afr

WOW! nice footage

I was in Swaziland South Africa in 2009 on a missions trip.. Wish I had a drone at that time...

Can't wait to see more footage
 
Re: Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Flying with Phantom in Afr

hmm, i dont know why, but i can see that video is not that smooth i would expecting.
What is your settings on GoPro ? are you shooting 1080p 60fps wide ?
I tried 2.7k in super (GoPro 3+ BE) in 24FPS and wide but seems to me, im having same "jerking" just like you.


Mozes mi napisat aj do posty. Thx
 
Re: Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Flying with Phantom in Afr

Horizontal YAW jerking in video are due to active NAZA GPS Atti mode, because I was shooting in very extreme conditions canyon 700 meters deep, and I did not want to risk anything. In the Atti mode i have relatively small YAW twitching, but completely without stabilized third axis can not get rid of it. Only postproduction software, such as Premiere WARP it can smooth out, but I filmed in 1080P/50fps mode (60fps is the U.S.), where I do not have much space for WARP using...
 
Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Phantom in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe - Gonarezhou National Park & Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge
(2nd largest in ZIM) is an amazing park on the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. There are no tourists, which is due to its remoteness from civilization and quite timid animals, which in turn was the result of massacres during the war in Mozambique and Mozambican poachers today's raids . Nature and landscape its but overwhelming.

We lived in Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge above the river Save, and at one late afternoon safari with a smiling ranger Thomas I could take off 1x , not too far away (less than 100 meters from us was the border with Mozambique, which in turn war, a very large wetland). Not too high (estimated at not less than 30 meters and no higher than 50 meters ), so quite restrictive conditions, but Zimbabwe is quite a complicated country ;)

The second flight was on the basis that lodge management saw the video of the first flight in the park, and their enthusiasm necessitated yet another early morning flight just before our departure.

Again, a lot of nerves, in both flights near the same water with the crocodiles and hippos, or rather impenetrable jungle...
Start each underneath the trees , "perfect" flight conditions :(...

Unfortunately YAW straying again made ​​his own (active GPS Atti), post-production software stabilization not yet (soon)...

Switch to the HD ( and full screen ), at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound. Any criticism is welcome ...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs7AkGNYrUI[/youtube]

Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous - Blyde River Canyon (South Africa)
Next (coming soon) - Makgadikgadi Salt Pans (Botswana)
 
Go Africa 2013 Expedition - The salt plains in Makgadikgadi

Botswana - a large salt plains in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, is a giant ecosystem of salt pans in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, which are the remains of a large lake Lake Makgadikgadi, which was at the time of its existence greater than today's Switzerland.

I flew in salt plains this time twice - once again a little adrenaline FPV flight with piloting Phantom from the moving car ( in Africa for the first time), then I briefly flew over water salt plains, past herds of wildebeests and flocks of pelicans.

When flying out of the car I have driven for about 1.5 km "stumbled " on the Phantom security barrier (safety cover against drift) , implemented in the latest FW.

Switch to the full screen & HD, at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F07DcPNL2U[/youtube]
__________________________________
Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous :
Blyde River Canyon, South Africa
Gonarezhou National Park - Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe
Next (coming soon) : Okavango Delta, Botswana
 
Go Africa 2013 Expedition - flying in Okavango Delta

Botswana - Okavango Delta, It is the largest and most unique inland river delta in the middle of Botswana, spreading to completely unique ecosystem covering an area of ​​over 15,000 square kilometers. Once there Okavango River emptied into a huge Lake Makgadikgadi, which disappeared and changed mainly in the Kalahari desert.

Today, this significant Botswana national park consists of thousands of meanders, islands, marshes and lakes full of African flora and fauna. They live here all known representatives of typical southern Africa, especially elephants, hippos, hyenas, lions, giraffes, crocodiles, etc. .. It is interesting that in the Okavango water here is so pure that it is everywhere in the delta officially designated for drinking (! ).

We were heading to Gunn's Camp in Moremi Game Reserve, at Chiefs Island. This a private " luxury - vintage" lodge in colonial style, is one of the last of its kind in the area, located under the palm trees and the African ebony, without fencing and other protection for its visitors always in direct contact with sounds and wonders of the surrounding wilderness, and of course and all the animals .

Because the camp is direct in the middle of the Okavango Delta, and do not here no roads, has its own "air -strip " which is a dusty makeshift runway in the middle of the bush. For its maximum of 12 guests in 6 challets the lodge transports small Cessna aircraft from Maun airport, about 100 km away .

After one of our morning walking safari, we agreed with the Rangers on flying with Phantom. It looks at first glance simply to the moment when you realize that all around swamps, lakes and channels of the Okavango, even though it was quite dry and a little water.
This still "elephants siege" everywhere hippos and crocodiles. So again only possible landing at the launch site, without the possibility to think of any possible emergency ... At a temperature of about 40 ° C (strong thermals).
Again adrenaline flying...
(sorry for my English)

Switch to the full screen & HD, at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-dI5ERpkg[/youtube]
__________________________________
Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous :
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana
Gonarezhou National Park - Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe
Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

Next : Namib Desert, Namibia
 
Re: Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Phantom in South Africa

Wow your videos are just so great and amazing.
And your choice of music just fits perfect to the mood.
Have they been slowed down so you get that fluid and slow motion?
How could you sit in the car and control the Phantom??? Its difficult enough just standing trying to do it. (I only had mine for two day) :roll:
Thanks for sharing, that is some of the best videos I have seen in here.
 
Re: Expedition "Go Africa 2013" - Phantom in South Africa

Klaus said:
Wow your videos are just so great and amazing.
And your choice of music just fits perfect to the mood.
Have they been slowed down so you get that fluid and slow motion?
How could you sit in the car and control the Phantom??? Its difficult enough just standing trying to do it. (I only had mine for two day) :roll:
Thanks for sharing, that is some of the best videos I have seen in here.
Thank you very much, some shots are for smoothing really slowed down, but eg in the latest video clip from Okavango not so much.
When driving the car someone else, it's not a big problem although it is a problem for your brain to receive different sensory perceptions from the body of a moving car, and the eye that receive images from remote plane, it is sometimes sick :)
 
Go Africa 2013 Expedition - flying in Namibia

Namibia - Kalahari & Namib Deserts, Gravel Roads, Moon Landscape

Here's next Phantom video clip of our African journey - just the way the Namibian "gravel roads" through the wilderness of the Kalahari Desert and the Namib, a lot of places of interest, such as . Moon Landscape near Walwis Bay. That's where it really looks like a landscape on some other planet . It's completely barren, undulating, rocky desert that was created in the Swakop River valley. Impression incredible, here I had to fly ...
image.php

These " gravel roads" are roads everywhere are still maintained and inspected, of course, when it comes to strokes, where there is at least some traffic. It is also interesting, ongoing maintenance is performed graders, whose crew / staff are independent entrepreneurs who with his grader they travel around the maintained sector, with his entire family in a trailer attached to a grader. Behind him is still attached caravan with workshop and at the end is even with the water tank . So meet such a train when his shift is not so unusual. On these roads you can go very, very quickly , it is not uncommon for there to ride this surface to 160 km/h (! ). But this is very dangerous on this surface is easy to skid, and quite often unpleasant wavy path just a quick drive away from other cars.
(sorry for my English)

Switch to the full screen & HD, at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QjYjMV96bE[/youtube]
__________________________________
Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous :
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana
Gonarezhou National Park - Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe
Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

Next : Dunes in Sossusvlei, Namibia
 
Flying in the Sossuvlei - Deadvlei, Namib Desert

Flying in the sand dunes of the Namib Desert - before the end of this our African adventure, we headed into the heart of the oldes desert of the world, 80 million year old Namib desert. This red desert is over 2,000 km long strip along the Atlantic coast of Namibia's border with Angola at the north, to the delta of the Orange River in the south, between 100-150 km wide.
You can find here the largest sand dunes of the world, and some of them can climb. We are in our temporary asylum Namib Desert Lodge, located directly below the old fossilized giant dunes headed to the southeastern part of the Namib National Park Namib-Naukluft, to an area called Sossuvlei and Deadvlei. This place is only accessible for 4WD cars, ordinary passenger cars and SUV's fail.

Sossuvlei is absolutely fascinating place among the red-orange giant sand dunes, of which Big Daddy, with its 330 to 380 meters the highest dune of the world (with other Namib Dune 7), and across the dune Big Mama, we wanted to capture. The pan beneath the dunes is also covered with dazzling white sand rich in salt. Once flowing through Tsauchab River, but the water after the rain here for many years been seen. Surprisingly, there are plenty of trees, shrubs, grasses and other vegetation.
(sorry for my English)

Switch to the full screen & HD, at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIkZ2r8Z3wE[/youtube]
__________________________________
Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous :
Kalahari & Namib Deserts, Gravel Roads, Moon Landscape, Namibia
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana
Gonarezhou National Park - Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe
Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

Next : Fish River Canyon, Namibia
 

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Flying in the Fish River Canyon, Namibia,
Last African Flying with my Phantom was waiting for me at the end of the Namibian part of our expedition, the Fish River Canyon, the second largest canyon on the planet. The road to the canyon is quite difficult matter canyon is located in a very remote desert region of southern Namibia, almost at the end of the world. It's one of the really incredible places, having the subtitle slogan "On the Edge of Eternity".

image.php


It is not so deep, the bottom is "only" around 500 to 600 meters deep, but its gigantic proportions (over 160 km long and wide and is 20-30 km) you really breath away. The canyon is about 550 million years old, and was created as a result of movements of the earth's crust, and later erosion of the river Fish River, after which it is named. It's absolutely abandoned and remote place with almost no tourists, with several lodge for accommodation, without civilization, temperatures in summer reach 50 ° C day, 30 ° C at night. Yet it is strictly controlled territory, and the entrance to it is only by special permit.

Right on the edge of the canyon, and I mean really few (!) Meters from the cliff, falling it up to some 300-400 meters built a number of comfortable chalet and the main building across the Fish River Lodge with swimming pool. View sumptuous, the right is sunset, sunrise is on the left, below is a gigantic hole. The place is so remote that there is no electricity (lodge has its own generator), no mobile or regular phone connection. Very slowly they could connect to Internet - lodge has satellite connectivity for data and telephone and fax at the reception.
Enjoy It!

(sorry for my English)

Switch to the full screen & HD, at least 720p to 1080p even better and turn on the sound.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVkB-B3S7g0[/youtube]
__________________________________
Go Africa 2013 Expedition in this thread
Previous :
Sand dunes in Sossuvlei - Deadvlei, Namibia
Kalahari & Namib Deserts, Gravel Roads, Moon Landscape, Namibia
Okavango Delta, Botswana
Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana
Gonarezhou National Park - Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, Zimbabwe
Blyde River Canyon, South Africa
 

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