Trip to Selous Game Reserve

On the 23rd Dec 08 we arrived at Selous for a 3 day stay. Selous is the largest game park in Tanzania and maybe in Africa. It is a game reserve as opposed to a game park as they do allow controlled hunting in the southern parts of the reserve. The northern part is where all the tourists visit. It is separated from the larger southern part by the Rufugi River. This is wide (100 m plus) muddy water river. You get to Selous by that 130 km long dirt sandy road or fly in from Dar in a little plane. Depending on what your budget is. There are a number of game lodges in the park, the ones inside cost up to$900 a night. Then there are a few lodges along the river but outside the gate. This is where we stayed. Jimbeza Lodge. It is quite rustic, very basic & features an open wall dining area on a cliff overlooking the river though a few trees. You can hear the Hippos in the water below early in the morning and at dusk. They make this cute low pitched three grunt noise. All the buildings are made of local materials, no 2 x 4s here, just branches from trees for framing etc and thatched roofs. But it makes for a nice atmosphere. The bar, where we spent quite a few hours sitting, is a bar built around a big tree then the bar counter built a bit out from that. Again no walls, just a thatched roof. The rooms were individual little single room bedrooms with a toilet/shower room on the back end. Lots of Geckos at night eating the insects buzzing around any lights. Small sandy trails between the rooms, the bar and the dining area. The package we had gotten included all meals as well and being Christmas they put on special meals for us. Even turkey with rice for one meal. Crackers and paper hats. Christmas day was spent in a safari kitted out Landrover with just Ramona, myself in raised seats, a guide and a driver. We spent 10 hours driving around different sections of the park looking for different animals. We only covered a small fraction of the park and mostly along the Rufugi. The park is mostly trees and low scrub. No open plains like the northern parks. Some places you could see 200 meter and other only 10 meters. The guide & driver were excellent. They can spot the smallest part of an animal in the trees long before our Mzungu eyes ever see it. They know a lot of details about different animals, how they behave, what they eat and drink, where they like to roam etc. Plus a lot about the trees and plants as well. The locals here apparently use the trees for a lot of medicinal purposes as they can’t afford to buy Western medicines. They uses leaves or the bark of the roots to cure things like STD, stomach problems, cause abortions, you name it they seemed to have some cure for it. Quite interesting.
At one point the driver stopped and looked at the back right wheel. We could see the shock absorber had broken in two so the guide just unbolted it and we carried on. The roads are quite rough in places, but for the most part they are not trying to drive fast. So it is kind of fun too.
By the end of the day we had seen, 3 of the big 5, elephant, lion and water buffalo. (There are no rhinos in Selous and leopards are tough to see anywhere as they are so elusive). Plus we saw hippos, wildebeest, zebra, warthog, impala, crocodiles, vultures - one species of vulture stands about 3 ft tall and are huge, a hyena, giraffes by the dozen (they are so graceful with their long legged strides), baboons and other monkeys. For lunch the guide set up a picnic table under a tree not far from the river where we could watch hippos, impala, and a slew of different birds. Quite civilized.
On Boxing Day we did a walking safari just inside the gate through the trees sort of paralleling the air strip. Not many animals there but the guide was full of info about the trees and foot prints. We did see a group of African wild dogs which are quite rare there apparently. A couple of planes came in while we were finishing. They were dropping off tourists and taking others back. That afternoon we got the guide to take us on another walk for a couple of hours along the river and through the local village there to explain the different things we were seeing. He pointed out an Egyptian cobra in a tree. We didn’t touch many trees after that. We were meant to do a river safari in a boat just before dusk, but it rained quite hard for quite a few hours so we were forced to sit at the bar all afternoon. Got chatting to other guests, so it was a good afternoon in spite of the rain.
The next morning, the day we were to leave, we did the river safari. We went down the river then back up the other side. A guide pointed out animals and birds along the river. Hippos are the big draw as they sit in the middle of the river in different pods, making their grunting noises. Very cute.