Africa, in our SIM, has been always neglected since the ages, and it's finally MSFS that has brought at least a semblance of realism to the vastness and the amazingly diverse topographical features of this continent, thereby making our explorations somewhat feasible and meaningful. It's still nowhere near levels of attention that other parts of the world (such as European and North American regions) have received e.g., in terms of the incremental World Updates. That's a pity. 

I've recently posted about my (virtual) travels across the Great Rift Valley of Eastern Africa, and also of my visit to Cape Town airport (See my previous post), near the southernmost tip of the continent. Thanks to GAYA Simulations' (hand-crafted) FACT (Cape Town) scenery (which, when "Enabled" supersedes the original MSFS version), I experienced at least a tiny bit of a real sense of arrival as I'd touched down in my destination. However, the en-route scenery of that flight, just as for the one here, I found, though sufficiently educative for this virtual aviator...🙂..., revealing the key features of the terrain, is nothing to brag about, and in fact of poor textures quality, at least in my (MSFS2024/Xbox) case (not sure if it's also so, in case of MSFS2020; in any case, the African continent scenery needs (and deserves) some extra attention for sure...).

Continuing my African adventure, here, today, I wished to travel, for this post, in a part of Africa that I've never before explored in the SIM...the northeastern region (see my EFB MAP), south of the Red Sea which is located at the juncture of two continents, Africa and Asia. I fly across ~1,100 nms (~1,250 miles) as I depart from Mogadishu (HCMM) airport to Khartoum (HSSK) airport. A major part of what I fly over is the so-called "Ethiopian Highlands". Having flown extensively in both the "Highlands" (and the "Lowlands") of Scotland (virtually, of course, thanks to Orbx...🙂...), here I encountered the African "Highlands", that felt a bit similar to the mountainous beauty and ruggedness of the Scottish "Highlands", but it's certainly quite unique and different in its own rights, and clearly in a league of its own. 

This region is the largest continuous area of elevation in the entire continent of Africa. While the highest summit of the Scottish Highlands reaches up to only ~4,500 ft, the highest point of the Ethiopian Highlands rises to a staggering ~15,000 ft. This high terrain is characterized by many deep gorges, some parts of which reminded me a bit of Grand Canyon, of U.S. Indeed, I read that some mountainous regions within the Ethiopian Highlands are often compared to the Grand Canyon due to their dramatic landscapes featuring high plateaus, deep valleys, sheer cliffs, towering peaks, and the characteristic red rocks and soil (see shots below). Just as, in Asia, the highest of the Tibetan Plateau is nicknamed "Roof of the World", here, the highest of the Ethiopian Plateau, rivaling the elevation of the Tibetan plateau, is likewise called the "Roof of Africa".

As I continued flying at an initial (cruise) altitude of ~12,000 ft, in a direct route, as the crow flies, following the magenta line of automatic FMS navigation, from Mogadishu to Khartoum, I sometimes came dangerously close...🙂...to scraping the gradually and deceptively (ever-elevating) terrain underneath me, and also some of the mountain peaks peculiarly rising out of the surrounding flatlands. However, my fast and powerful TBM 930 was quick to gain altitude, as demanded, keeping me safe from such obstacles...🙂... (BTW, on record, the TBM 930 is the world's fastest certified single-engine turboprop, proving itself, here, to be a competent companion, ready to take the challenge of these African Highlands...at my command...🙂...).

So, please find this collection of images of my flight today, across this most interesting and remarkable region of Africa, terminating in the city of Khartoum, where the two Niles meet, the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria (see my previous post), and the Blue Nile flowing west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia... (a trace of the Nile River can be spotted in one of my arrival pictures below).

Hope you enjoy...! 

Thanks for viewing...and happy flying in your own SIM...!

Thanks for this. Great shots. Never knew the Ethiopian Highlands existed. And this despite the fact that my wife and I are very enthusiastic about stateside Ethiopian restaurant cuisine 😀.

Nice set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

wow, that's a wild paintscheme!

On 12/28/2024 at 10:48 PM, John F said:

Thanks for this. Great shots. Never knew the Ethiopian Highlands existed. And this despite the fact that my wife and I are very enthusiastic about stateside Ethiopian restaurant cuisine 😀.

Appreciated the comemnt, John, and glad the post struck a chord...🙂...knowing you are a food connoisseur...I'm more of a food consumer...🙂... There have been always lots of ethnic restaurants around Chicagoland area, that I occasionally used to visit, but these days not so much...! Did visit a Vietnamese place a short while ago, and not sure what I ordered from the menu, but a "whole" fish (tip-to-toe) showed up on my plate...🙂...it was pretty good though...Oh well...Cheers...!

 

On 12/29/2024 at 1:38 AM, pmplayer said:

Nice set, thanks for showing !

cheers 😉

You're welcome, pmplayer...Thank you.

 

23 hours ago, jankees said:

wow, that's a wild paint scheme!

Thanks, Jan... coming from you...🙂...I'm quite sure, though looking complex, you can do this one with your eyes closed...🙂...

 

 

Great shots! 😉 

On 1/1/2025 at 1:15 PM, Alaska738 said:

Great shots! 😉 

Appreciated the comment, Will, and many thanks for catching this post of mine...🙂...!