The distance that most of our guests will travel in order to get to this remote island nation is considerable. The logistical complexities associated with getting our guests from various locations throughout North America (our European guests are a little easier) to the Cosmoledo Atoll are significant. And the new realities of cross border air travel have certainly added some potential aggravation to this kind of long distance trip. However, because we've been doing this trip for 4 years now, we're confident in our ability to get our guests down to Assumption, where we board the ship, in as smooth a manner as is possible. It may seem like a daunting journey, but we know the ins and outs well enough by now that there are very few problems we can't deal with.

The break down of this epic journey

• Flight from North America to Paris - Approximately - 7 hour Flight Time from the Eastern Coast of the United States.

•  Flight from Paris, France to Mahe, Seychelles - Approximately - 10 hours Flight Time.

• Charter flight from Mahe to Assumption - Approximately - 3 hours Flight Time.

• Overnight - on ship - from Assumption to the Cosmoledo Atoll- Approximately - 9 hours.

Yes, this is a long trip! Fortunately, though, the fishing is so good that all the air travel, line ups and suspect airline food, is more than worth it.

We usually meet our guests in Paris, as we often have anglers coming in from a variety of locations throughout the US and Canada. Paris is the jumping off point for the Seychelles and the overnight flight to Mahe, which is the capital of the Seychelles. Many guests choose to do a night or two in the "City of Lights" on the front end of the trip and we can organize stays at some great hotels for as many nights as guests would like, in Paris. We like to fly Air Seychelles. The airline is well run and the planes are comfortable and on time. The food on board is surprisingly good and flight goes by pretty quickly. Included in the price of our trips to Cosmoledo is airfare from Paris to Mahe. If guests would like an upgrade to First Class, please contact us as soon as possible to ensure that we are able to secure the seating.

We fly from Paris to Mahe on Thursday evenings. The flight leaves Charles de Gaulle International Airport at 7:30pm, so if guests prefer to fly into Paris and not stay for a night or two, a Thursday morning or early afternoon arrival in Paris will leave plenty of time to catch the flight down to Mahe that night. The overnight flight to the Seychelles is pretty easy and most of the time we just have a big dinner, a glass of wine and then sleep for the night. We arrive in Mahe at 8am on Friday morning.

The charter flight from Mahe down to the island of Assumption, where we catch the ship out to Cosmoledo, departs Mahe at 12 pm on Friday afternoon. The plane we charter is a 14 seat twin prop Beachcraft. The flight is just under 3 hours in length and because the plane gets up to 26000 feet in altitude to save on fuel, the interior of the plane can get chilly. Make sure that you have a sweater or fleece in your carry on when you board the plane.

The island of Assumption is where we board the ship. The island itself is not much more that a concrete landing strip and there are no other locations where planes can land for approximately 500 miles. Once our guests deplane, it's just a two minute walk down the sand path to the ship. Our staff handles all the luggage and transports it from the plane down to the sea by tractor and then by skiff out to the ship. Everything is taken care of!

We board the ship on Friday afternoon and guests have a couple of hours to get organized and comfortable. We then have a brief orientation seminar right before dinner and then head out overnight to Cosmoledo. The overnight trip is about 9 hours in length and we arrive at dawn on Saturday morning, just in time for breakfast and the first day of fishing. Half way through the week, we change our mooring location, from the western edge of Cosmoledo, to the interior of the atoll. This opens up the entire eastern half of the atoll to fish for the last 3 days of the trip. The interior sand flats in the eastern part of Cosmoledo are, in all likelihood, the best in the world for bonefish!

The back end of the trip, when we arrive back in Mahe the following Friday afternoon, is a welcome respite from 7 days at sea. Mahe is one of the lushest islands we've ever seen and the tropical rainforest environment is in stark contrast to the ocean environment of the preceding week on the ship. We book two nights at our favorite hotel in Mahe as part of the trip. A little R and R before guests make the long haul back to North American and Europe is the right way to do this adventure and after years of making this trek, we feel confident that doing so adds to the whole experience. The island is stunning and not to be missed!

We fly back to Paris on Sunday morning. We handle the logistics of getting guests to and from the hotel and airport in a seamless manner that reflects our experience in this wonderful country.