Sterling Adventures

I have just returned from an amazing trip to Tanzania; it is well worth writing about because it ticked all the right boxes and gave me a holiday which combined action and adventure with relaxation and sunshine. The main reason I choose Tanzania is because when I was researching Safari holidays I learnt that the Selous reserve enables you to watch the wildlife without the constant trail of traffic which is inevitable on some safaris. The idea of being able to watch animals in the wild without being in a jeep line up really appealed! Winter Sun holidays like this are hard to come by so I booked this fantastic 2 week tour a couple months ago and was not disappointed.

On arrival in Dar es Salaam we headed for the beach and completely chilled out for a day; we knew there would be some early morning wake up calls coming our way so this was rather pleasant. The train journey we took the following day to the Selous reserve was something quite special. The journey itself took just under six hours and it was incredible; as we passed through the magnificent remote countryside of rural Tanzania watching the Masai Mara tribesmen herding their cattle, it struck me for the first time that we were on African soil. After a couple hours we entered the Selous reserve and enjoyed an hour or two spotting different game; this was great fun as we all had our binoculars out! This reserve is now a World heritage site and also the largest park in Africa covering 55,000 km, about 5% of the continent’s land area. Winding through these vast plains made me realise how many different species of bird and animal were out there. You can’t beat activity holidays like this; I was excited about seeing the hippos and crocodiles in the river and secretly hoping to see a pack of wild dogs over the next few days.

We had a short journey from the train station to a mountain lodge. Our accommodation was perched up high with fabulous views overlooking the plains and the Uluguru Mountains in the distance. The stone cottages were very comfortable and on arrival we dropped our packs on our beds and ventured outside to wonder at the total tranquillity of our surroundings. It was a real treat to watch the animals come to the Lodge’s waterhole later that afternoon before the sun set; the buffalo came first followed by a few Zebra, later on a Bull Elephant arrived and drank deeply seemingly unaware that he had spectators. Here the animals came to us; this was truly memorable.

The next day we set our alarms early so that we could explore at sunrise. The African sunrise is spectacular and worth getting out of your warm bed for! After a quick mug of strong coffee and some toast I was set to go, but this time we were setting out on foot. The only sounds we could hear were those of our footsteps and the birdsong. So we spent the morning (noticing) birds and insects as well as the large herds of game. This is a great way to see the real Africa and the fascinating Dung Beetle was quite a hit in our group! I have never really been interested in bird watching; however the many species of beautiful birds, colourful kingfishers and bee-eaters in Africa opened my eyes to a whole new world. Our guide’s continuous calls of “Lilac breasted Roller” will stay with me forever.

I think the highlight of this trip had to be the day spent on the river. The Selous is home to many hippos and I had never seen these fantastic creatures in the wild before. We were able to take a boat trip up the river and watch literally hundreds of lazy Hippos lying partially submerged at the banks soaking up the sunshine. The strange grunting noise they made was quite surreal, especially as they seem to be constantly communicating; a bizarre chorus of harmonious groaning! However they are not all lazy and we were lucky enough to see a couple males lunging out of the water at each other with their jaws opened wide; an incredible sight which was really scary although we were safe on the boat.

When we were given the option to choose our own safari experience, I decided it may be fun to venture out on an evening safari. As the light faded we were fortunate enough to see a pack of wild dogs work together to hunt their prey, a young impala. This was incredible; although sad in a way, it was nature and there are not that many wild dogs around. The river was also teeming with crocodiles and I was able to pick out the green eyes of the crocodiles at the river edge as I had borrowed some night vision glasses from a friend.

After the first week we then moved onto to the Island of Zanzibar, and spent a couple days in Stone town.This island was friendly and vibrant and we visited the many exotic markets and bought the famous spices as presents for our families. We ended our trip on the palm fringed fabulous coast of the island where we were able to snorkel or dive to our hearts content or catch up on some sleep in the lovely hammocks on the beaches. In my mind this was what the real African holiday experience should be like. I got back on the plane totally exhilarated by our adventure and wanting to return again one day soon.