October 1999
- October 1 We presumed Vaclav would fly from Germany straight to the Strait of Gibraltar like his parents did. However, he suddenly decided to head east. In the morning, he was monitored in central Austria. This might be just a ramble or a serious decision to fly to Balkan Peninsula.
- October 2 Vaclav reached Balkan Peninsula and stopped close to Zagreb.
- October 4 After a two-day break in High Atlas area, Krystof flew over the mountain range.
- October 7 Krystof was monitored in Sahara. Then, he changed his direction and flew back to High Atlas mountain range; he flew as long as 300 km in one-day period. Very bad visibility due to sandstorms was reported from the area.
Vaclav reached Adriatic coast between Šibenik and Split. It seemed he was going to choose either Bosphorus or Crete to leave Europe for Africa.
- October 8 Krystof reached northern edge of the High Atlas mountain range.
- October 11 Vaclav was monitored in Southern Italy close to Cosenza. Thus, he had to fly over the Adriatic Sea along a route 180-km long. Such a choice of route was rather surprising for the team.
- October 13 Dominika had previously stayed for two weeks near Kiffa in southern Mauritania. In the morning the satellites located her about 150-km far from her original position. During the day, she kept on flying towards the Maghama town.
- October 18 After a 9-day break in the High Atlas mountain range, Krystof took off and started flying towards Sahara again.
- October 19 The NOAA 14 satellite located signal of Otakar's transmitter. The record evaluation revealed Oscar was currently in northwestern Africa. It has become obvious he had chosen the same route as his parents did.
- October 21 Krystof reached Ergu Iguidu in northeastern Mauritania. Pacing some 200 to 300 km a day, he was proceeding along different route from the one he had chosen during his first attempt to fly across Sahara.
- October 25 Vaclav's position was unchanged - Cosenza in southern Italy.
- October 26 Krystof flew over savanna area south of Sahara.
- October 28 Krystof stopped near the river Karakoro on Mauritania/Mali borderline. He reached winter habitat one month later than Dominika.
Vaclav's transmitter was indicating the same position as before.
- October 29 The African Odyssey project team found dead body of Vaclav and his communication set near Cosenza (Italy). X-ray analysis revealed he had been shot to death by a bird hunting vandals. Thus, another young black stork individual was killed without any reason and the amazing observations of Vaclav were terminated.
|
