The Ultra-Remote Seychelles Atolls by Henry Gilbey

____tcs_vol4_no4_low ALL 021914F-109

 

No mobile phones, no wi-fi, no contact with the outside for nearly two weeks, and as a result it feels like we are heading to the edge of the known world, when it was believed that if you went too far you dropped off the edge. I spend an age just looking out of the aeroplane window at an endless shimmering sea, blue sky, fluffy white clouds and literally nothing else, and nothing can actually look pretty ominous if you think about it. The fishing world may well know this as the Seychelles, but our destinations will end up putting us are far closer to Madagascar than Mahe, indeed in my mind it’s called the Seychelles primarily because you have no choice but to fly out to these “ultra-remote atolls” via Mahe, the capital of the Indian Ocean paradise known the world over as a luxury holiday destination. To me it’s the middle of nowhere that excites the living daylights of me and my heart is pumping with the sheer edge of the world remoteness of a trip like this. Into the wide blue yonder we go…


____tcs_vol4_no4_low ALL 021914F-110

 

As we come in to land on Assumption, the different shades of colour in the water that surrounds this atoll take my breath away. I live very close to the sea here in south east Cornwall in the UK, and as stunning as it is, nothing can really prepare you for the sheer range of colours that shallow tropical waters can display when that burning sun is high in the sky, and in no time at all we are waiting on a deserted sandy beach while the tenders come to pick us up and take us out to the mothership moored out in the bay. Welcome to our home for the trip. Did I by any chance mention that I was somewhat overexcited, and that’s me being nothing more than along for the ride as a photographer. Imagine how the anglers feel, and especially when a brief sortie out on one of the tenders before we set sail yielded a few yellowfin tuna and the first broken fly rod of the trip.

 

____tcs_vol4_no4_low ALL 021914F-120

 

____tcs_vol4_no4_low ALL 021914F-125

 

To read the rest of the story and more great articles go to www.thecontemporarysportsman.com

Leave a Comment on this Article