How to Catch African Wildlife

I always like getting as close to the wildlife as possible. Zoom lenses and binoculars are great, but actually catching and holding the animals is another experience altogether. So the chance to deep sea fish and see some offshore pelagics is always something I look forward to.

Chris, a friend from the states, invited us out for a day of deep sea fishing with the famous Pemba Channel Lodge on Shimoni Island. Located in the southeast corner of Kenya on a peninsula jutting out into the equatorial Indian Ocean, the Pemba Lodge is a little bit of colonialism far removed from any bustling city. It even has a spot in the '1001 Places to go before you die" book.

We left on their 40ft fishing boat around 7am trailing 10 fishing lines behind us. It was amazing how they kept from getting the lines tangled. We steered thru a bait ball and immediately had a couple of hookups, landing one skip jack tuna. Then we had a long dry spell as well did what fishermen do best, wait, until the lines really started humming. We ended up catching a yellowfin tuna, a wahoo, a kingfish, and another skipjack before the day was over. Then back at Pemba we were served our own fresh caught tuna in sashimi form. Mmmmm.

Being a marine biologist it was amazing seeing these fish before they were brought on board. In their full colors in the water the wahoo and kingfish were absolutely gorgeous. It was amazing how fast they lost their colors once out of the water. I can safely say that I would still like to film these magnificent fish under water than catch and eat them. But thats not to say that they aren't incredibly delicious.

The next big catch was a few days later near our makeshift campsite in Tsavo National Park. We were way off the beaten track, next to frog pond cascading down into a hippo filled river. Baboons jumped thru the trees and fireflies lit up the night sky. But they werent the only thing lighting up. Shining back at my head lamp were the eyes of a nile crocodile. Instinctively I thought about getting a closer look. He was in one of the pools above the river so I wasn't worried about wandering hippos. When I got closer I could see he was about 3 feet, perfect hand grabbing size. I waded into the pool, positioned my hands right over his next, and wam!, caught him and lifted him up before he could wiggle away. Just a disclaimer here, I have been trained since I was very young to do this...

And what a beauty he was! His snout was much narrower and sharper than the american alligators I am used to. And he was a lot feistier. And boy, was he loud. The croc called for his mama...who luckily was probably off down the river somewhere. I was pretty pumped that this kind of experience can still be found in Africa. You don't have to work very hard to get off the beaten track here.