As spectacular as the scenery was and after such an amazing first flight of the day this ended up being the flight I wish I was not on. The winds were not strong, I was up high above the ground but as I got closer to the canyon the turbulence started to increase. I experienced some turbulence routing to Nairobi and some in Zambia but not like this. I requested a higher flight level and kept climbing, in the end I was at FL095 (9500 feet) and over 5000 feet above ground. The airliners on the radio were reporting moderate to severe turbulence at FL380 (38,000 feet) so there was not much hope for me. I still had 1 1/2 h of flying left and the canyon meanders all the way to Upington (my destination). I pulled my harness as tight as I could get it, one hand on the stick and the other wedged against the side of the aircraft. I had several wing drops and it was the first time on the trip I felt vulnerable in such a small aircraft. Every 30 minutes I have to put the fuel pump on and change tanks, To change the tanks you have to pull a pin up, rotate the selector through the off position until it reads on the other tank. As I was moving the selector there was a sudden drop and my hand came off leaving the selector in the off position, as I panicked and grabbed it to turn, the pin had seated so I had to pull the pin up to reselect. It all happened over the course of 1-2 seconds but was not enjoyable. I was very relieved to arrive at Upington !
