Stretching to Sudan

Adventuring beyond your known geographic comfort zone both stretches and challenges your mind. Perhaps similar to astronomers who are tandalized to reach beyond the edge of the known, stopping the stretching isn’t an option. The surprise of discovering that which was previously unimaginable is an addiction. It can also be the catalyst to continue grabbing new opportunities.

Fishing Sudan once again allowed me to stretch both my previous geological limits, but also my mind. Visiting the Sudan coast was another shot of dopamine I seem to need on a regular basis. Like a drug addiction, the need to stretch never subsides. Personally, from the early days of my youth to the present, my flyrod and longbow have been the catalysts to stretch in so many ways. Thank you, Dad, for shaping my life with two such simple gifts. Fortunately, both he and my Mother gave me great freedom to explore, make my own judgments and learn from my own mistakes.

My father literally died unexpectedly the day he announced his retirement to his cohorts at the relatively young age of 60. Like a lot of others, his many dreams and plans of retirement kept his nose to the grindstone for his life. That single tragic event shaped who I am. Putting that trip off another year? There simply may not be another year.

Perhaps the greatest lesson was to just go do it. Don’t wait. There are always three good reasons to not stretch. I frequently hear those reasons from others who are still planning their big trip but never seem to make it happen. Often just pushing aside those reasons allows stretching beyond the comfort level.

Those good reasons will always be waiting for you when you return. And being uncomfortable is very stimulating. The more planned, safe, and comfortable is also the most boring. The best time to do it is now.

Back to Sudan. Actually, a somewhat spur-of-the-moment trip idea after another southern DIY saltwater trip was Covid canceled a few months earlier. I had been to other parts of the wonderful continent of Africa a few times with my bow and camera….Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Namibia. But the coast of Sudan

was stretching. In recent years Dave and I have stretched to and explored the far edges of the better-known saltwater flats. You won’t find us in comfortable lodges with daily guides.

So frankly a liveaboard sailboat with pangas for going ashore on the Red Sea was a high-end trip for us. And our own cabin and prepared meals were comfort bordering on luxury.

Fishing opportunities were endless. For a guy who can no longer run along edges of coral reefs nor blind casts a 12 weight for hours for GTs, it took some reality checks to realize my fishing was instead silently and carefully wading the new flats each day. Highlights included wading alone on kilometers of flats catching and releasing some species I still don’t know the name. Or laughing to myself when another triggerfish beat me by sulking away and then rocketing off when I make another cast in its retreating direction.

Or just standing in the water appreciating the solitude.

But a great deal of the stretching was realizing what an intact ecosystem this part of the Red Sea remains.

While I have too often witnessed the destruction of such places and over-exploitation of its critters elsewhere, the Red Sea coastline was amazing. No other human tracks on the beaches make you realize you are stretching. Perhaps my greatest joy was witnessing the abundance of sea turtles, and seeing their trails on the beaches where they had lumbered up from the water to dig nests and lay their eggs.

And the coral reefs seemed remarkably intact with a healthy myriad of reef species. I even felt guilty walking on the crunching coral to reach the waiting panga. The world with its burgeoning population and exploitive technology is crowding and may indeed doom such intact places. I’m thankful to be able to experience the solitude and functioning ecosystem as it exists now.

And then, as in most trips, the most memorable are the people you get to know on such a trip. The Sudanese people aboard were so gracious and helpful, and almost always with a smile. They found a way to accommodate our every need and desire. No pirates aboard.

Stretching to experience other cultures is an essential global human need to facilitate understanding and at best, world peace. To that end upon graduation from a University, I have given a stipend to each daughter and grandchild stipulating it be spent only traveling outside the US in hopes of making them better global citizens. We globally would be better if every young person should had that opportunity.

And our four other fishermen aboard allowed me to appreciate the diversity of fishing goals, techniques, and skills. Having considerable Norwegian blood, I felt immediately bonded to Johann, Peter, and Dag.

And their fishing skills often left me in awe. They were the poster children of fishing commitment, and their energy was infectious. Throughout the trip I gathered a lot of fishing knowledge from each of them. And for Neil, our UK representative, I learned a lot about perseverance. Despite the physical challenges of casting heavy flyrods into the rolling surf of the reef edge, Neil persisted for hours each day. Simply amazing. And being from the US, I appreciated the bonds among them as both fishermen and as global citizens. Many good discussions from a variety of global perspectives made our evening conversations enriching.

Our experience was quite different from my ultra-safe non-traveling friends who envisioned we would either be caught in a war or our boat would victims of pirates. My sprint to the finish line continues.

Text by Greg Munther

Photos By Johan Persson Friberg