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Wonderful rivers and a game park the size of Switzerland
Author: Jo Netscher

I remember when I worked in Kenya someone once wrote a great quote in our visitors’ book.  Although I can no longer find the quote I remember the essence of it:

 

 ‘A good safari is when you come across an animal, silently watch its interaction with its environment and then you retreat, un-noticed, as if you had never even been there.’

Jo Gordon from our Scottish office and myself Jo Netscher the English representative were sent on an adventure to discover for ourselves what sets Southern Tanzania apart from other game destinations in Africa. It is through one of our experiences in the Selous that I feel we met the objective of our trip. 

Jo and I had opted to venture out on a boating safari that would take us up the Rufiji River. This dynamic river is a maze of sharp ‘S’ bends that cuts this vast conservation area in half and creates a natural barrier for mammals that aren’t large enough or brave enough to cross its large and crocodile infested expanse of water.  It’s not until you are low down on the river itself that you can get a true sense of the dense vegetation that flanks this water source.  As you travel upstream it almost makes you feel that you are the sole traveller going on the Rufiji your mind can’t help wandering to the illusion that you, like Frederick Courteney Selous (after whom the game reserve was named), are the first explorer to set eyes on this animal Eutopia.

My daydream of being a 19th century explorer and totally alone was shattered by our guide, Henry, who stopped the engine of our boat and pointed out a small speck on the distant bank.  We reached for our binoculars and Henry directed us to a beautiful female leopard relaxing on the sand bank.  So as not to encroach on the leopard’s territory we kept our distance, and allowed the boat to float downstream on the current.  For once I decided to put my camera down and file this moment in the memory card of my mind.  After ten minutes of us silently watching, our spotted friend got up, stretched and with her elegant catwalk swagger that would make any model jealous she walked down to a puddle on the bank of the river.  She lowered her head to the water and lapped up her sundowner.  Once she had quenched her thirst she returned to her warm spot on the sandy bank where she resumed her position, silently watching the world go by.

The Selous, a game reserve the size of Switzerland, is the one of the most wild, the most remote and definitely the largest game area that I have ever visited.  Here your safari adventures, whether they’re by boat, by vehicle or by foot, take you back to the safari days of yesteryear where you can sit and watch in silence, undisturbed by other safari goers, what most visitors to Africa are really there for - the beautiful animals of Africa.

  

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