9 Dager: Ruaha, Mikumi, Selous

The game viewing starts the moment the plane touches down or when you enter the park in our safari vehicle. A giraffe races beside you, all legs and neck, yet oddly elegant in its awkwardness. A line of zebra’s parades across the runway in the giraffe’s wake. In the distance, beneath a bulbous baobab tree, a few representatives of Ruaha’s 10,000 elephants – the largest population of any East African national park, form a protective huddle around their young.

Destination: Ruaha National Park
Accommodation: Ruaha River Lodge

These days you enjoy full day game drives. Ruaha’s unusually high diversity of antelope is due to their liking of the acacia savannah of East Africa and the miombo woodland belt. Grant’s gazelle and lesser kudu occur here at the very south of their range, alongside the miombo-associated sable and roan antelope, and one of East Africa’s largest populations of greater kudu, the park emblem, distinguished by the male’s magnificent corkscrew horns.
This is the gems of Ruaha: For predators and large mammals are very easily seen during the dry season (mid May to December) while during the wet season (January to April) the park is best for the bird-watchers, lush scenery and wildflowers. The male greater kudu is most visible in June, the breeding season.

Destination: Ruaha National Park
Accommodation: Ruaha River Lodge

This morning you head to Iringa where you do a short stop at Isimila Stone Age. In the landscape of eroded sandstone pillars one of the most significant stone age findings ever identified was unearthed. The stone age tools found there are between 60 to 100.000 years old. Even though the museum is small it is well displayed highlighting some of the most important findings. Continuing from Iringa to Mikumi you may check in to the lodge and rest a bit after today’s long drive before dinner and another good night’s sleep in the wild!

Destination: Mikumi National Park
Accommodation: Mikumi Wildlife Camp/Vuma Hills

Today you have the whole day to enjoy Mikumi National Park, Tanzania’s fourth largest national park, often referred to as little Serengeti as the area of Mkata flood plains which resembles the world-famous savannahs of Serengeti. The savannah in Mikumi National Park allow your eyes to spot wildlife from a great distance, giving you wonderful pictures either for your camera, or forever embedded in your memory. Many of Mikumi’s animals are used to visitors on two legs or four tires, so here you’ll have the opportunity to meet species like elephant, giraffe, wildebeest, and antelopes and if lucky, predators like lion and leopard.

Destination: Mikumi National Park
Accommodation: Mikumi Wildlife Camp

Today you drive to Morogoro, a farming town, up the Uluguru Mountains and over to Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s largest protected wildlife area. As you arrive Selous Game Reserve you are in the land of the animals, and you continue your day to be close to them, and in the afternoon, you head to the lake/river for a relaxing boat safari before sundown.

Destination: Selous Game Reserve
Accommodation: Selous Wilderness Camp

Today you enjoy a full day of safari in Selous Game Reserve, the land of the elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, antelopes as well as lions and other predators. This area is more than 50 km2, that is larger than Belgium. A UNESCO world heritage site, Selous gives you extraordinary possibilities for wildlife experiences. Since Selous is a game reserve (not a national park), we have the options of following the herds of animals outside the roads, into their natural habitats which give you the best chance for getting you the “million dollars” picture. You will return to the lodge before the sun sets. At the lodge, you can enjoy some snack around the fire as you watch the sun setting over the mighty Rufiji River. You will be served a delicious dinner before you go back to your tent/bungalow.

You start in the morning after a delicious breakfast and head out in the bush with your packed lunch. In the evening, you can cool down in the pool, or just enjoy the sun setting on the other side of the river sharing safari stories around the fire or you can just relax in the cozy sitting area before you enjoy a tasty dinner.

Destination: Selous Game Reserve
Accommodation: Selous Wilderness Camp

Before breakfast you take some tea or coffee and some fruits before heading in to the woods by foot. Together with a guide and an armed ranger you will explore the nature and the smaller habitants in the bush of Selous. This exciting morning, you will be working up an appetite and as you return to the lodge they will have prepared a solid breakfast for you to enjoy. After breakfast, you return to Dar es Salaam, or fly over to Zanzibar depending on your program.