Away from it all
I’m back from a couple of weeks in Tanzania. Now, I love my fishing holidays (I have a few booked for later in the year to offset the lack of fishing on this one!) but this was truely amazing.
Being just 6 feet away from a pride of lions is something I will never forget or seeing a pack of hyenas leaving for an evenings hunt was a magical sight. The tents we stayed in were not fenced off so it was not unusual to be awoken by a munching sound just outside . We would creep out of bed and see a huge eye of an elephant, hipo or giraffe just a few feet away from where we stood. The highlight for me was the walking drive where we saw plenty of animals but also the tracks of animals and signs of a hunt. This was the only time our guide carried a gun and I assumed it was incase of an angry lion, leopard or hipo but it was in fact for water buffalo. Apparently they are the most unpredictable of anything you are likely to encounter. I have some photos and will pop them up shortly but some of the things we saw I will never forget.
So what does this have to do with fly fishing in Devon? I guess not a lot but I have to say how impressed I was with the guides and how they worked as a team. Although there were not many lodges near us when someone had spotted something they would pass on the information and I thought this was pretty neat. They also had a few tricks up their sleeves that made the day even more special and I have to admit I nicked a couple!
There was some beach holiday too and luckily I packed an 8wt and some clousers and spent some fun time catching jacks and small cuda. It was fun figuring out the fish and where they were and I was a little surprised to see that they didn’t want a frantic retrieve but a nice steady pull. Like everyone in Tanzania they seem to be pretty relaxed!
Tags: , Fly Fishing, fly fishing devon, Fly Fishing Tuition, Fly Fishing Tuition Devon, Pete Tyjas, Scott Fly Fishing School, Trout Fishing Devon
