Last one on the left

As we meandered our way down the Zambezi River through the beauty and splendour that is the Lower Zambezi National Park, I could not help but wonder what this round of adventure had in store for our motley crew of fishing rod and camera-wielding travellers.  Earlier in the day we met up with Rob Kay, owner and operator of Amanzi Zambezi Lodge. With him he carried two sacks. One filled with buttery soft White river avocados, and the other, the perfect complement to a refreshing gin

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Flats Fever

The outer islands of the Seychelles have spawned more fishing tales than the incredible fish populations that it protects. Described by Jacques Cousteau as one of the last sanctuaries on our planet, when you visit the Alphonse group of islands, it takes no imagination to see why. This salt-water wilderness is far more than one of the finest fisheries in the Indian Ocean, it is a marine reserve that safeguards a diverse array of fauna

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The Land of Fire and Ice

In a country with hundreds of volcanoes of which 30 are in constant turmoil, you might think this an ancient land of upheaval, but it’s quite the contrary, this activity is constantly creating new ground, making Iceland one of the youngest countries in the world. Characterized by a continual upsurge of water, there isn’t a mountain from which water doesn’t emanate, with springs quickly developing into streams, and the gradient creating powerful rich rivers that

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Fifty shades of Blue

The Maldives is in so many ways an unusual and unique country. It consists of 1192 islands scattered over an area of 90 000 square kilometres. Despite this wide-ranging area, the total land surface of the country covers just less than 300 square kilometres. It is the lowest-lying country on earth, with an average height above sea level of just 1.5m and the country’s highest point is a mere 2.5m above sea level. The population

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The Last Cast

Why ten pounds is the benchmark for many fresh-water fish in terms of angling accolades is a bit of a mystery. The imperial yardstick and it being double digits would be my best guess. Admittedly this aspiration is what now drives my journey to rivers and lakes with a fly rod in hand. We start off just wanting to catch a single fish (the label of ‘Billy Blank’ from your best fishing mates being a

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Mixing It Up

When it comes to catching big tigerfish, one of the most important considerations is to fish in remote areas that don’t get a huge amount of fishing pressure. The Barotse floodplains area on the upper Zambezi is just such a place. I was fortunate enough to visit Matoya lodge in this area in September. Getting to this isolated area involved a flight from Johannesburg to Lusaka on SA Airlink, then a charter flight from Lusaka

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