That’s how you pronounce it, Djibouti: Jah Booty. That tiny North Eastern African country nestled quietly between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. And that’s where we’re headed next week. Yes, that reaction you’ve just had; we’re used to it. And it’s nothing like its neighbours. Djibouti was in fact dubbed ‘Africa’s hottest new tourist destination’ a couple of years ago. More importantly, it has an interesting coastline, so fascinating in fact, that it has stolen several hours of planning time for day dreaming and wondering.

A mad fishing friend out here, Allistair Wilson, convinced me that my Oman trip should change to a Djibouti. Although I’d never given it much thought, it didn’t really take much to convince me. He’s a total heatherware addict and probably wouldn’t know the difference between a Merkin and an Alflexo; however, he’s as mad as I am and between the two of us I’m sure we’ll find some fish (and let’s be honest here: I’ll be carrying some bucktails and topwaters too!)

Up until this past weekend, our prep has been a little on the thin side. Tickets, 4×4 rentals, accommodation and our visas have were all done early but the rest, well, the rest has left me in a state of mind panic…

Packing a fishing bag for an unknown coast is no mean feat… TAKE IT ALL, I hear my paranoid self yell at my blasé self. As always, time and weather are going to play a huge role. Luckily April in Indian ocean is a good time to be fishing: seasons are changing or trades are switching, resulting in some amazingly still and clear days. We don’t have a lot of time though, which should mean some sort of streamlining… Hmmm

The other defining gear factor should be our target species. The Fishbase ‘Fish Species in Djibouti‘ doesn’t help me much hey. There is not a lack of range but rather a glut of it! It is, after all, a section of Red Sea right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. The mugshots that jump out one as you scroll through the list include pretty much include all the members of the various gangs: you’ll recognise them…

Guess I’ll be trying to fit EVERYTHING (including camping gear) into 40kgs of baggade allowance…

The plan is to get to the south facing north coast and explore, explore, explore. This is many ways is a journey into the complete unknown. We can find next to nothing about fishing , in fact, apart from a lone operator running out to the Seven Brothers Islands, there is no information. Added to that, I was told that a shore based fishing trip would be impossible; something about no roads and little infrastructure and something else I lost interest in… Clearly they’ve never been on a fishing trip with Allistair or I!

Being nestled between two of Africa’s most unstable countries does beg the safety question. And we’ve asked it. Turns out that Djibouti is actually quite safe and despite its unruly neighbours, is stable and has a small but growing tourism industry. There is a large international military presence and has a pretty low population density. The first few nights are booked into a super rustic camping spot where we’ll suss the area and decide on next steps. It appears that there will be little difference to a trip to almost any other African country!

We leave tonight… Should be interesting!