For all her modern adornments, there are still glimpses of the old Africa to be found. Tiger fish will take you there.
‘The camp staff will have been up long before the dawn, and the remains of last night’s fire fanned back to life. The darkness is still heavy as you sip a coffee, and from it come quiet voices and the occasional soft laugh. Depending on where you are those voices could be Zulu, Shona, Sindebele, even KiSwahili. There’s a muffled clank of gear being readied for the boat, and somewhere down by the river a splash as a bull hippo charges back into the water from his night-time grazing. As first light steals over the far horizon there’s the wheezy alarm sneeze of an impala with the scent of last night’s leopard suddenly in his nostrils. Beyond the trees a great red sun begins to rise like a god, and the day stands beckoning before you.
These moments are as much a part of the experience as the fishing itself. More so perhaps, because without them I would not go.
To do tigers right is to do Africa right, and that will echo through the rest your life. But understand one thing first. It will never let you go.’
from Wild South – Hunting & Fly-fishing the Southern Hemisphere
Peter P. Ryan www.faraway.co
Image courtesy of fly ninja and all-round good guy Keith Clover.