African Waters - 50 Pristine Miles

To embark on a trip to Sette Cama, Gabon, is to fully immerse yourself into the fly fishing adventure of a lifetime. 200lb tarpon, 100lb Cubera snapper, 1000lb bull sharks, elephants roaming the forest behind you, and hippos giving you a wary eye are all in a day's work. It is a wild adventure that yanks you out of the doldrums and thrusts you into an all-encompassing African experience. 

Unfortunately, the worldwide spread of single-use plastics is marring even the most untouched and pristine ecosystems around the globe. The magical estuary of the Ndogo Lagoon and its 50-mile stretch of beach bordering the Atlantic Ocean is no different. This incredible stretch of beach has been inundated with litter and plastic debris that washes ashore from the ocean. To even begin to think about cleaning it up is mind-boggling. From Mexico to Belize, Costa Rica to Venezuela, and the Bahamas, I've seen the same issues nearly everywhere I go.

African Waters has put forth a plan to begin the immediate and monumental task of manually removing each bit of plastic debris from this stunning 50 miles of beach with a team of both African Waters members and local villagers from Sette Cama. Dirty diapers, endless plastic water bottles, Ziplock bags, bits of foam, plastic food containers, straws, and a billion other items can be found on the beach. Not just on the surface but buried under the sand as well. It's hard to put into words just how much material this is, and to think about the fact that someone has to manually bend down and pick up each piece by hand is unfathomable.

However, African Waters is actively trying to do the impossible with this initiative and making some amazing progress that I, quite frankly, wasn't sure was possible until now. To know the amazing team behind African Waters is to know their all-encompassing "can do" attitude with regard to operating around the world, and they are bringing this same spirit to the cause of cleaning up their beach.

Follow along on the African Waters Instagram handles @50_pristine_miles and @africanwaters