The next day I was taken out Tiger fishing on Kariba, which I had been hearing stories of since I was a young Zimbabwean-wannabe – alas we caught precisely no fish, but was still great fun with excellent scenery, and elephants wandering on the far banks. Having to avoid hippos when you cast the line out is something I am not familiar with from my previous fly-fishing exploits in Ireland. Apparently there are very few hippos in the wild in Galway now. Great shame.
The following day we all went to a nearby bream farm for a fishing competition – we had ten minutes to go into the bush to find a stick, and then we were each allotted a line, a hook and some worms – and the biggest fish wins! I had forgotten how much I love fishing, and how often I used to go with my uncle Michael – it all came flooding back as I not only managed to catch a normal, boring bream but a, erm, terrapin, thus winning ‘most unusual catch of the day’. Ellen caught a big fish, which had me secretly hoping she now has the fishing bug. We shall see.
I was also taken on a fantastic 5 hour bird-walk by Bob Hayward, a friend of the Passaportises and a very knowledgeable and experienced birder, who was not only great company, but managed to show me the following birds:
A Shikra; Common Scimitarbill; Lesser Honeyguide; White-crested Helmet Shrike; Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike; White-browed Sparrow Weaver; Southern Grey-headed Sparrow; Black-winged Bishop and a Yellow-fronted Canary.
Other points: car window now fixed at the not too bad cost of 44 USD (phew) and not-good sounding car noise has disappeared.
The following day we all went to a nearby bream farm for a fishing competition – we had ten minutes to go into the bush to find a stick, and then we were each allotted a line, a hook and some worms – and the biggest fish wins! I had forgotten how much I love fishing, and how often I used to go with my uncle Michael – it all came flooding back as I not only managed to catch a normal, boring bream but a, erm, terrapin, thus winning ‘most unusual catch of the day’. Ellen caught a big fish, which had me secretly hoping she now has the fishing bug. We shall see.
I was also taken on a fantastic 5 hour bird-walk by Bob Hayward, a friend of the Passaportises and a very knowledgeable and experienced birder, who was not only great company, but managed to show me the following birds:
A Shikra; Common Scimitarbill; Lesser Honeyguide; White-crested Helmet Shrike; Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike; White-browed Sparrow Weaver; Southern Grey-headed Sparrow; Black-winged Bishop and a Yellow-fronted Canary.
Other points: car window now fixed at the not too bad cost of 44 USD (phew) and not-good sounding car noise has disappeared.
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