Casting a fly in Kenya

An invitation to address the illustrious Kenya Fly Fishers' Club is an honour made even more special by the chance to fish its delightful highland rivers

- Adrian Dangar

ON ARRIVAL at the Taylors' house in the leafy Nairobi suburb of Karen I am greeted by the sight of a Sykes' monkey glaring at me from the railings of the upstairs balcony while munching a banana pinched from the kitchen table. If that's not sufficiently bizarre, Joss Taylor, my host and former secretary to the Kenya Fly Fishers' Club (KFFC), is advancing slowly up the stairs towards the intruder brandishing a large landing net. Although Taylor's intention is undoubtedly catch-and-release, having seen the reaction of various mammals caught up in nets, I am more than relieved when the thief makes good his escape via an open bedroom window.

Welcome to Kenya - I am here to accept an invitation from the KFFC to speak at their annual dinner within the salubrious surroundings of Nairobi's Muthaiga Country Club. If the opportunity to address the oldest fishing club in Africa were not enough, it arrived gilded with the offer of a trout-fishing safari on Club rivers flowing off the Aberdare Mountains.

The KFFC's long and illustrious history stretches back more than a century to early beginnings as the Kenya Angling Association, which was formed in 1919 for the benefit of soldiers returning from the First World War. Seven years later the current Club was officially founded to stock and preserve the delightful north and south Mathioya and Gichugi rivers, which begin life as crystal-clear streams some four hours' drive north of Nairobi.