Into Africa with Ole Friede

October 30, 2014 - 6 minutes read

“We call it the world’s only living desert,” says Ole Friede as he pilots our Cessna Caravan over the red-rock Namib Desert. “Most of this region gets the equivalent of a spoonful of rain each year. From spiders and scorpions to elephant and rhino, all of the animals and plants have adaptations to live with almost no water. Fog is often the only moisture you get along the coastal strip . . .”

And so it goes over the next 10 days as I fly the length and breadth of northern Namibia with a man who knows this country like the back of his hand, and not just the topography. Like a walking encyclopedia, Friede is just as well acquainted with the flora and fauna, human and natural history of his native land, a massive nation perched on Africa’s southwest coast.

From record-setting aviatrix Beryl Markham to the dashing Denys Finch-Hatton of Out of Africa fame, African travel and exploration overflow with the exploits of pioneering pilots. In addition to his torrid affair with author Karen Blixen, Finch-Hatton was an early advocate of the airborne safari, a concept he hatched in the 1920s while showing the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VIII) around British East Africa.

Rather than viewing the wildlife and landscapes from a slowly moving vehicle, Finch-Hatton suggested they take to the air, a radical concept at the time. It was during these trips that the prince — appalled by the wanton slaughter of African wildlife — decided to cast aside his rifle and in favor of a home movie camera. Returning to Britain, the prince urged colonial administrators to make the Serengeti a fully protected game reserve, setting the stage for African tourism as we know it today.

That legacy carries on in Namibia, where Friede has boosted the fly-in safari to a whole new level of luxury, adventure and scholarly sophistication. Co-founder and chief aviator of Windhoek-based African Profile Safaris (APS), Friede has evolved into the go-to pilot for those who want to discover the vastness of Namibia (and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa) in a manner reminiscent of Finch-Hatton.

Movie stars, heads of state and corporate chieftains count among his many return safari clients. And for good reason: APS treats everyone like they just might be the King of England some day. “We’re not just a chauffeur service,” says Friede. “We’re guides who know how to fly . . . knowledgeable enough to guide you at each location along the way.”

A fourth generation Namibian on his mother’s side, Friede’s life has followed a meandering and often tumultuous path to where he is today.

His father was a Lutheran minister who got expelled from Namibia (then a South African-ruled territory called Southwest Africa) for preaching against apartheid. Banished from their homeland, the Friede family roamed between Germany, Tanzania and Zimbabwe before Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990 and they were able to return.

“My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps, become a minister, but my dream as a kid was being a game ranger,” Friede explains. After earning a degree in wildlife and nature conservation at the University of Namibia, he snagged a job as the head of the Namibian Game Capture Unit, charged with trapping and relocating animals in the country’s various national parks and game reserves.

“You name it, we trapped and transported it,” he says. “Lions, rhino, elephants, everything. Moving them around is very expensive. But if you don’t do that, you get overpopulation and you must resort to more drastic population control measures.”

It was a job that brought you into almost daily contact with things that would gladly stomp, maul and even eat you. Like the lioness and three cubs he was tasked with rounding up when the animals got inside the parameter fence of a tourist area in Etosha National Park. So much of Friede’s time was spent flying from place to place – and scouting Namibia from above – he decided to get his own pilot’s license and eventually his own aircraft.

In 2007, he left the wildlife service to start APS with his brother Jan (also a pilot) and wife Marie, who runs all of the operations of the company. While the company specializes in Namibia, they also organize bespoke multi-nation safaris that include neighboring Botswana and South Africa. Friede has also flown Cape to Cairo and logged plenty of time in the skies above Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and other safari destinations.

“We provide a holistic experience and our safaris are nature based,” Friede explains. “Because we serve the low-volume, high end of the market, we can afford the attention to detail, the flexibility and freedom it affords.”

Denys Finch-Hatton couldn’t have said it any better.

For more information on how to book a trip with African Profile Safaris, contact Emerging Destinations, their North American representatives.