Tanzanian Odyssey

Clients recently returning from a Safari Club trip to Serengeti and Selous published the following article in their local newspaper!

“Tanzania was a place I always dreamt of visiting, just the names Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Selous are enough to set my pulse racing so for a thirtieth birthday treat I took the plunge and booked a tailor made safari with specialist safari operator, Safari Club.

The Safari was one huge adventure, even the light aircraft flights and drives between the camps were a delight flying over the Ngorongoro Crater and past Mount Kilimanjaro or cutting across the bush in our open 4X4 Safari vehicle.

Between the airstrip and the camp we passed huge herds of buffalo, zebra and countless antelope, stopping to allow a breeding herd of thirty elephant to cross the track a few feet in front of us, the smallest was only a few weeks old with impossibly large ears and a wildly waving trunk as he crossed the track sandwiched between two old females.

The tented tented camps were luxurious with five star comforts, not the tiny cramped tents I remembered from my backpacking days. Real beds, seating areas, lighting and en-suite bathrooms complete with hot showers, each tent cleverly positioned to maximise the magnificent views of Africa and wildlife drinking at the waterhole.

Superb evening meals were another highlight, hosted by the camp manager’s, we were joined by our guides and the other guests for al fresco meals under a brilliant starlit sky. We swapped stories of safaris past and present whilst listening to the sounds of the African night and enjoying a good South African wine.

Our safari in Serengeti was very special there was game everywhere we looked; we followed two lionesses with four small cubs for hours. The cubs were boisterous and playful whilst the females were forever scanning the plains for a likely meal opportunity. My favourites were three cheetah brothers who spent the morning marking their territory and watching the local gazelles passing by, still too full from the previous nights kill to try their luck.

Sand Rivers, a lodge in the largely undeveloped and magnificent Selous Game Reserve was our fnal destination; Sand Rivers is set on a rocky peninsula with magnificent views over a vast sweep of the Rufiji River, its exposed sandbanks home to hippo, crocodile and spectacular bird life. The cottages are open-fronted, with an expansive veranda set on stilts, giving each a stunning and private view over the river…

The activities were varied and interesting, a walking safari with an armed guide before breakfast certainly got the adrenaline flowing.
On a night drive we came across a pair of mating leopards who seemed completely oblivious to our safari vehicle nearby.
A sunset boat trip on the beautiful and wild Rufiji River slowly passing the hundreds of monster crocodiles and hippo’s, enjoying a cold beer as the sun went down was another thrill.

Off -roading through bush and river, slamming the vehicle into reverse as we came across an angry bull elephant and stopping metres from a hungry old lioness expelled from her pride and desperately searching for food provided more excitement.

Perhaps the highlight of our safari to the Selous was an optional night’s fly camping!
We spent the evening watching the sun set over the river, having chosen to leave the luxury of our room for the night to sleep under a mosquito net with just a sleeping mat on the banks of the Rufiji. We didn’t sleep much, despite the reassurance of knowing our armed guides were close by, but the clear skies and the sound of unseen wildlife just metres from where we made for a never to be forgotten night.

Safari Club really did create the journey of a lifetime, from the spectacular camps, amazing food and of course the plentiful and varied wildlife, from lions, elephants, hippos, cheetah and leopard to snakes, dung beetles, and a huge variety of birds, made all the more exciting by the knowledge of the local guides and their boundless enthusiasm for their land and it’s wildlife.”

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