One of the most amazing aspects of this trip is that even though you’re thoroughly busy fishing, any moment could deliver an amazing animal encounter. From the safety of the skiffs, we viewed elephants, hippopotamuses, Nile crocodiles, wort hogs, baboons, antelope and cape buffalo. In fact, there is never a moment during the trip where you aren’t also on safari. One afternoon, I spent the better part of my post-fishing shower peering out the mesh side of the tent at a bull elephant that stood easily 10 feet at the shoulder and was growling at me from 40 feet away while I rinsed the shampoo from my hair. On another occasion while making the short walk back to our tent after dinner, we heard lions roaring in the near distance and talked with staff about stories of wild dogs just across the river from camp. Every moment is a truly immersive experience in the most African way possible.
After three days of hearty laughs, some surprisingly scrumptious riverside meals, and mind-boggling encounters with tigerfish (some specimens reaching an astonishing 14 pounds) it was time for our group to return to the main Dhala Camp on the Mynera. Once back, we found the Mynera dropping into shape quickly, but the group in camp still reported tough fishing. The next couple of days proved very difficult, however, it had nothing to do with enticing strikes. We received an incredible amount of action, but we struggled mightily to keep fish pinned to our fly. Fish broke off, chewed through our 50lb wire shock-tippet, snapped the connection between the monofilament and the wire, or just would never suffer the piercing of our hook. We tried moving the fly slowly or quickly with single-hand retrieves and hyper fast double-hand strips and still struggled. By now, we were fully indoctrinated into religiously strip setting the fly (sometimes 10 – 20 times before actually lifting the rod), and as we buckled down and doubled our efforts. Towards the end of the trip, our learning curve leveled somewhat, and we started to land some incredible fish. During our time at Dhala camp we became aware that our last day on the itinerary would be to hike into a section the guides called “The Rapids”. Excitement grew as we envisioned hiking several kilometers across the wild African bush, where we’d been seeing all manner of large fauna. It was not hard to assume that some of these critters would at the very least be less than enthusiastic about our presence and at worst see us as a scrumptious afternoon snack.