Reading his story, one of the sayings that comes to mind is “Nothing is easy.” However, since then, there have been several updates from Jenman African Safaris and African Luxury Hideaways who promote visits to the Turtle Bay Fishing Camp on Kalakajoro, a small island, offshore from Madagascar. It has certainly become much more developed than when Eben pioneered a visit.

The camp operates a 28ft. Cape Craft Ski boat with 2x 225hp outboards, all of which are maintained and equipped for game fishing. Fergus O’Brien is your skipper and host and with some thirty years of fishing experience behind him, has had the good fortune to fish in numerous different countries, skippering fishing boats of all dimensions. Fergus is at his absolute best whilst trolling the Indian Oceans.

With his one man crew, they are a combination extremely adept at their jobs and are very knowledgeable in terms of different fish species, and the whereabouts of fish in proximity to the camp – thus avoiding unnecessary travel time in hunting for them. Fergus rates his best catch as a wahoo which sadly, was got by a shark before he could pull it clear of the water. Had he boated the fish in one piece it would have weighed in excess of 60kgs, which at the time would have set an All-Africa record.

The game tackle provided on the boats is of good quality and is in good condition. The camp mainly specializes in trolling and conventional big-game fishing. Fly-fishing or spin-fishing tackle should be taken along, if required.

Accommodation on Turtle bay Camp is in five two-bed, wooded chalets situated amongst the palm trees on the beach. The chalets are very basic but spotlessly clean with comfortable beds and mosquito nets. Ablutions are stand-alone with two flush toilets and two separate showers. Only cold water is available but due to the climate this is not usually a problem. The ablutions, restaurant area and the kitchens have lighting and the chalets are lit by paraffin lamps. The central boma area contains an open kitchen, pub and restaurant seating.

Turtle Bay Camp is established on a clearing shaded by coconut palms, merely 20 metres off the beach. The island is fairly small (approximately 8kms in perimeter) and a walk around the island during low tide is strongly recommended.

The camp operates a reverse osmosis filtration system for the water supply and a solar back up system supports the generator. There is no cell phone reception at Turtle Bay.

The foregoing details were sent from Jenman Safaris on September 4th 2009.

Contact details:
Email: info@jenmansafaris.com
Postal: P.O Box 36146
Tel: +27 (0) 21 683 7826 ext 216
Email: Rebecca(at)remove-this.jenmansafaris.com