2004 Adventure Gear Review – Africa Atlas
NatGeo Plans Your Trip inn Africa.
If you plan to explore like Dr. Livingston, then you may as well be even more prepared than he was when exploring the Dark Continent. The Africa Travel Atlas is the first in a series of Adventure Maps in an atlas format planned by NGS for roving travelers.
If you want to discover the salt pans of Makgadikgadi or dreamed of horseback riding through big-game country in Tuli, this atlas is for you. How about river-rafting on the mighty Cunene River or hiking the grand formations of Namibia’s Fish River Canyon? The NGS Adventure Atlas of Africa shows you how and where to do it all.
The large-format, soft cover atlas, developed with South Africa-based Maps International, features 336 full-color pages of maps, photographs, facts, and resources designed to appeal to the special needs of travelers in the world’s most popular adventure destinations. Countries are divided into 15 regions to help readers separate out their specific area of interest, from Africa’s storied Sahara Desert and Great Rift Valley to its Equatorial interior and Congo basin. Click the map below to order.
For years, National Geographic’s World and Family Reference atlases have shown readers the world and all that is in it in rich, articulate detail. The new African Adventure Atlas combines all of these elements with beautiful photographs and the kind of hands-on, practical information travelers need before they embark on their trips. With easily navigable, clearly marked maps and a compendium of useful facts, figures, and basic touring information, the African Adventure Atlas aims to be a comprehensive, must-have travel resource for anyone wishing to make a journey to the African continent.
Readers can peruse 68 detailed street plans for Africa’s major cities and towns to determine their proper stop-off points, gain valuable travel tips and recommendations on essential gear in the index and resources section, and find out which national parks cater to their interests in a separate national parks chapter. Those interested in adventure can also get sample itineraries and local booking information in the atlas’s special adventure activities section.
Additional African Adventure Atlas Features:
- Over 400 color photographs
- 68 city maps
- 40 detailed national Park maps
- 30 maps of regional park and preserves information
- 30 pages of adventure activities
- 116 pages of touring maps at 1:1,000,000 and 1:3,5000,000 scale
- 10 pages of facts, figures, history, and tourism resources.
The atlas is the centerpiece of a suite of Africa products currently in development at NGS Maps. National Geographic and Maps International combined resources to create a line of products with high standards. Maps International has extensive groundwork in the region with fine details and accuracy with a background of cultural information.
In the fall of 2003, NGS also rolled out Africa Destination City Maps for recreational travelers for Cairo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tunis, Victoria Falls, Durban, and Dar es Salaam, with other cities to follow.
NGS employs 60 full-time cartographers who produce five map supplements and about 100 map pages per year for National Geographic magazine, and other NG magazines.
Boaters in Montana can borrow life jackets for kids through a special, free loaner program developed by Montana’s Safe Kids Campaign, a project of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies of Montana, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Possibly other states and nations will take note of this unique program.
“We’re very pleased with this loaner program because it means that every child can be protected when they are on or near the water,” said Liz Lodman, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks boating coordinator. Click photo for Kotatat Life Jacket.
Montana law requires children under 12 to wear a U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket. All boats must have a life jacket available for each person on board.
All that is required to borrow a kid’s lifejacket is a driver’s license and the commitment to return the life jacket to the same site at the end of your boating trip. Life jackets are available in three sizes to fit infants under 30 pounds, children 30-50 pounds, and youngsters 50-90 pounds.
“This program works because we have loaner sites on almost all of the major waters in the state,” Lodman said. “On Flathead Lake near Kalispell there are five different locations to obtain a free loaner life jacket for a child, and other major lakes and reservoirs may also have more than one site.”
Other waters with life jacket loaner sites include: Fort Peck Reservoir near Glasgow; Lake Elmo State Park in Billings; Georgetown Lake near Anaconda; Canyon Ferry Lake near Helena; Frenchtown Pond State Park near Missoula; and numerous other sites.
For details on the free life jacket loaner program call 800-421-6667 or on the Internet go to: www.hmhb-mt.org .
Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) biologists are joining forces with their counterparts in Wyoming and Nebraska to reintroduce a flamboyant species of dancing birds to the northeastern Colorado plains. Click photos for birdwatching DVDs.
Wildlife biologists are trapping plains sharp-tailed grouse in Wyoming and Nebraska and releasing them in Weld and Morgan counties south of the Pawnee National Grasslands. So far, 30 of the birds have been released. More will be reintroduced over the next two years as part of efforts to help restore the species to its historic Colorado range.
The grouse—among several native subspecies in Colorado known for their elaborate spring matingrituals—are being released on private land through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).
DOW Small Game Manager Ed Gorman said small populations also exist in extreme northern Weld County, and birds are occasionally seen in extreme northern Logan and Sedgwick counties. He said the birds have tried to come into Colorado on their own in recent years, but seem unwilling to cross the Pawnee National Grasslands, a broad expanse of short-grass prairie that does not provide secure grouse habitat.
The grasslands separate two CRP regions in northeast Colorado. Because sharp-tailed grouse prefer mid-grass habitat, biologists will observe closely whether their natural expansion to other areas will be impeded by a reluctance to cross the grasslands. Biologists are hopeful that by releasing the birds south of Pawnee they will help speed the recolonization of the plains sharp-tailed grouse in the entire region.
It is hoped future spring sunrises will include the dancing of sharp-tailed grouse as part of the pageant of life on the high plains in northeast Colorado. For more information about the plains sharp-tailed grouse, log onto: http://wildlife.state.co.us/species_profiles/sharpgrouse.asp
Speaking Of Birds . . . & The Tie To Fly Fishing!
The fly-tying industry is playing a waiting game on the effects of bird flu that has swept through many countries in recent years.
Following major outbreaks in Asia, notably in China, where many fly-tying materials come from, plus a couple of cases in the USA, the trade is waiting to see if it will have any impact on it. In the USA, the major carrier of the virus is the blackbird and crow.
As yet, the effects have been small, with most companies saying there has been no disruption to supply and little cause for concern. But European supplies have had shipments from the Far East blocked at UK docks because the fumigation of skins with feathers attached failed to comply with the latest procedures.
The port health authority decided the fumigation was not acceptable for skins with feathers attached. The only option was to send the shipment back. Feathers can not be attached to skins, including cock and hen capes and pheasant heads.
In the short term supplies will be unaffected because many companies hold large stocks, but if the situation continues then dealers could face shortages of some capes and feathers. Most companies carry one year’s supply of feathers for its fly-tying clientele.
Meanwhile, the American Fly Fishing Trade Association confirmed it was unaware of any of its members having difficulties at the present time, but they are monitoring the situation.
Tens of millions of dollars in recovered tax is set to be ploughed back into fishing in America.
Changes to the act, also known as Wallop-Breaux after the men who set it up, could provide an extra $110 million each year for fishing and boating initiatives through motorboat and small engine taxes.
The money would be redirected from the U.S. General Treasure to what is known as the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund or simply the Wallop-Breaux Fund.
Other benefits include continued funding for the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, which means an extra $60 million is available for the Water Works Wonders campaign to get more people fishing and using boats.
Mike Nussman, the president and CEO at the American Sportfishing Association and chair of the American League of Anglers and Boaters (ALAB) said: “Getting our interests addressed in this major Senate transportation bill is a huge victory for sportfishing and boating.”
The ALAB consists of 32 organizations representing sportfishing and boating across the nation and it was the body which put forward the proposals.
Other amendments included in the bill put a cap on the tax on fishing rods at $10; reduced the tax on portable, aerated bait buckets from 10 percent to three percent, and removed the tax on fish flashers using LED technology.
Money from the Wallop-Breaux Fund, together with revenue from fishing license sales, accounts for most state fisheries management funding not to mention ways to get people fishing and out on boats.
The Wallop-Breaux Fund currently provides about $459 million per year for fisheries management and research, fishing and boating access facilities, plus education and safety schemes for anglers and boaters.
A blend of features and an advanced design has been incorporated into the latest Costa Del Mar sunglasses, called the Pescador.
The Pescador was created using Costa Del Mar’s revolutionary coinjected technology in the frame and temples and also benefits from a side lens material pulse side shields. Click the sunglasses to order.
Costa Del Mar comfortable and well fitting. Pescador offers a lifetime warranty is part of the Costa Del Mar’s Performance Collection and is available in both optical quality CR-39 and LightWAVE glass. All lenses feature 100 percent polarization that reduces glare and gives 100 percent UV protection.
Spanich Lure supplier, Lukris, has reputation for unusual ideas and has a host of them for this season. Sometime, the action of a classic spinner is not enough to fish in certain places, especially when targeting trout waters high in the mountains or in streams.
The U.S. Senate has passed a major bill which means that the Sportfish Restoration Act will continue for a further six years.
One solution is using small lures with double blades which offer spectacular movement the instant they enter the water. That is what the Ninfa and Ninfa-Tandem spinners are designed for. A bigger size is designed for deeper streams.
The Orky-Grub spinner allows the angler to change the hook depending on the type of fishing. This makes it especially suitable for catch-and-release fishing.
Lukris Popper spinner is a big success in Spain but is virtually untried in other countries. It is said to be ideal for deep and still waters such as lakes, pools and marshes, and is well suited to black bass and salmon.
Contact Lukris at lukris@lukris.com or logon www.mapsofish.com
Fishing Pool offers a variety of different hardwood fishing lures. The range includes lures for many applications and vary from the new 9g ultra light Flippers to the large 130g, 30cm Softhead Hell Tail that is getting terrific results for big bass in California. fishingpooluk@aol.com
Spitfires and B-52s
Australian firm Bo-Bo Lures offers three bibbed-style items catering for a range of fishing options. The Spitfire was the first model to be released by them. The baitfish design has a unique hook placement, which is said to greatly increase the hookup rate and also gives the lure better stability when trolling.
Due to the success of the Spitfire series, the large B-52 was released to tackle really big fish. At 20cm in total lure length, it is capable of trolling up to 12 knots and a large deeply anchored polycarbonate bib will pull a B-52 down to around 10 feet on a slower retrieve. The latest additions are the Bo-Bo Squid Jigs.
Ambush Lures has created a range of innovative products, including the latest crankbait, the Stealth Diver. The tunnel Flo-Thru design creates a turbine effect behind the lure, just like natural baitfish turbulence. Water actually flows inside the lure and sets the tune for the patented Flo Thru technology.
The crankbait is offered in silent and rattling versions to address regional water clarity. Meanwhile, when it comes to specialist lures, there are ones that pop, twitch, or chug. There are lures that walk and spit. You could buy lots of lures and still not have all the right moves! Or you can just go with Ambush Lures’ Pop-A-Long and see how many ways you can make it walk and dance.
Made with medical grade titanium wire and using premium hooks, the Pop-A-Lure design is also available to saltwater anglers to the new Salty-Pop colour selection. The firm has also created Uncle Elmer’s Sticky Scent, designed to attract fish and stay on your lures, while not coming off in one cast or getting all over your boat while casting. Info: sales@ambushlures.com or logon www.ambushlures.com
Svendsen Sport The Perfect Cast.
The latest offering from Danish company Svendsen Sport is a 65-minute instruction video featuring legendary fly casting instructor Henrik Mortensen.
The film guides the viewer step-by-step through the theory of the prefect cast. Filmed along the shores of some of the most spectacular and breathtaking rivers in Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the video covers both single and double-handed rod techniques. The Perfect Cast is available in either VHS or DVD format. The DVD features an additional 25 minutes of bonus material.
To buy: info@svendsen-sport.com or www.svendsen.sport.com
– By Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Editor.