Travel to Sudan – 2015

by | Apr 6, 2015 | Uncategorized | 2 comments

blog-April-6-2015-1-flying-to-port-sudanMike and I relaxed this morning for the first time since we left the States.  We sat with Nick Bowles and visited over coffee.  I watched the play by play of the Cubs Cardinals baseball season opener on my computer.  It was Sunday night in the US and here in Dubai it was 5 AM.  This Cub fan has high hopes but today’s game had the ever so often unhappy ending.

 

blog-April-6-2015-2-travel-to-sudanAt 9 AM Nick took us to the airport to head for Port Sudan, Sudan.  Mike and I gave our Sudan Visas, showed our trip itinerary and passports and cleared entry requirements to Sudan.  The terminal for Sudan is wild for people watching.  The array of cultures in the same room waiting for flights to the most unheard of and heard of places is amazing.

 

blog-April-6-2015-3-iraqi-airlinesAfter we boarded our plane the pilot announced an hour delay because the radar was down.  We roasted in the plane before the good news that we were on our way.  Luckily during the down time, out my window the plane watching was pretty cool.  We were parked next to an Iraqi Airways jet.

 

We arrived in Port Sudan, Sudan at around 6 PM Sudan time.  Last year this place was total havoc but it was more organized today.

 

blog-April-6-2015-4-flyfishing-in-sudanOnce we made it through immigration an agent from Tourette – Fight it in Africa collected our passports and led us to a bus.  We loaded and drove north with a few stops for supplies.  At one of the stops I wandered out for a visit with the locals.  Despite what US news would like us to think, the folks here are as friendly as you can imagine.

 

blog-April-6-2015-5-people-of-sudanWe headed north for three hours.  We went through a few checkpoints and half the drive was in the dark.  I don’t like driving in the dark at home let alone in a place like Sudan.  We dodged a few camels and oncoming trucks with no lights.  It wasn’t the least bit enjoyable.  Eventually we made our destination and were met by our boat staff on the Red Sea.

 

blog-April-6-2015-6-people-of-sudanThere are three other anglers on this trip all from South Africa, Andrew Early, Mike Murray and Conrad Botes.  They seem like great guys and this should be a fun week.  Once we were met we boarded pangas and headed to our mother ship which is an old but nice cabin cruiser named the Scuba Libre.

 

blog-April-6-2015-7-scuba-libre-i-sudanOn the big boat my good friends Mark Murray and Fede Castignoli were waiting.  I met Fede here last year and Mark has been a main character on my blog both in Tanzania tigerfishing and last year in Sudan.  He’s been a top guide for Tourette for several years and is making a career of it.  Mark and Fede will be hosting and guiding us this week on the Nubian Flats.

 

It’s been a long day of travel once again.  Rather than sleep in the cabin below the deck, just like last year I’ve staked out the real-estate up top of our boat under the stars.  There’s hardly a light in sight.

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

2 Comments

  1. jack meredith

    Jeff, just got off the phone with Paul Burton who is co-owner of the real-estate brokerage that handles all of Bray’s real-estate transactions and he met you at Jack Dennis in 1992, he is from South Africa, told you about Tiger fish and is Andrew Early’s brother-in-law. Small world isn’t it. He loves to fish more than breath and is a great guy. I signed him up for your blog so I hope he gets it.
    I went out in our 20ft flats boat last Wed, Apr 8th, first time and fell on my left rear lower ribs and am paying the price for my clumsiness. The pain is intense but the medication is almost worsethan the pain. Don’t grow old!
    We have some real intense, type A fishermen here thatI will share your adventures with, you never know. Jack & Suzanne

  2. Jim Fisher

    Hi Jeff:
    Very interesting post. I hope you are back in Dubai now in relative safety.
    I just finished one of Chez’s books and wanted to send him an email.
    If you have a minute, please send me his email address.
    Hope you and Granny have big fun in Dubai.
    Take care, Jim

Welcome to the Blog of Jeff Currier!

Contact Jeff

I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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