Tiger Fishing on the Zambezi, Zimbabwe

The brothers: from the left, Paddy David, Martin, Terry, and in front, Tim.

While I was visiting Jane and family in South Africa, David was fishing on the Zambezi with his brothers. This is an annual event, where they get together to enjoy each others' company in this unique environment; spending their days on the river, and their nights at the luxury Chikwenya Safari Lodge, on the edge of the World Heritage Mana Pools.

Each day, after an early 6am breakfast, they headed for the boat...

...and readied themselves for the day ahead

One day, Tim caught a huge tiger fish...

...but on another day, he wasn't so lucky

Here is one David caught

As their boat drifted on the current, they saw game, 

like this herd of elephant on the bank...

...and some fairly close, when they came to the river to drink...

...or even closer, when this hippo galloped by!

The long days often took their toll...

...but they arrived back, as the sun was setting...

...and enjoyed a hearty meal at the end of each happy day.

Images by David Coughlan

by Elizabeth Coughlan

Tiger Fishing on the Zambezi River, Zimbabwe

From left back: Martin, Terry, Tim, Paddy - and in front, Brian and David.

During our first week in Southern Africa, David went up to Zimbabwe for a fishing trip with his four brothers, Paddy, Tim, Terry and Martin, plus brother-in-law, Brian. They flew from Harare Domestic Airport, early in the morning, to the tiny Chekwenya airstrip, down in the Zambezi Valley. From there, they were driven to the mighty Zambezi River, where their boat was waiting for them to start fishing immediately.

Martin caught the first fish of the trip (11 lbs in weight)

David made the second catch, weighing in at 10 lbs

Their camp was further down river at Shamashanga, where they arrived at dusk. The camp is a tented camp, with 8 en-suite two-man tents, a central dining area and a campfire area. Luckily, they had the camp to themselves as there were no other visitors for the duration of their stay.

One of the tents at Shamashanga, 

with the veranda overlooking the Zambezi.

Each day they stopped off for a braai lunch, on islands in the river

In the evenings, they dined in the camp's dining room

...followed by relaxation around the camp fire.

Sometimes they stopped to watch game. David said that there were vast numbers of elephant, hippo and crocodile in the area.

Enjoying a braai, with their boat skippers.

Tim got to celebrate his birthday during the fishing week. He was presented with a birthday cake - made from elephant dung!

Tiger Fishing on the Zambezi, Zimbabwe

These are the intrepid fishermen! From the left: Brian, Martin, 

David, Tim, Paddy and Terry in the front.

David is still in Zimbabwe visiting family, but Paddy has returned with some great photos of the fishing trip. Typically, David, the novice fisherman, turned out to have the most success and caught the most fish!!

This is the plane in which they flew from Harare up to the Zambezi. 

From the left: Terry, Paddy, David, Martin and Brian.

David was thrilled to catch this Tiger Fish...

...but he was even more delighted to catch this one!!!

They were all thrilled when they spotted the lion on the opposite bank to their camp...

...and ellies too!!!

Here are the Coughlan brothers all together at last! 

From the left: Terry, Martin, Tim, Paddy and David.