Photographic Picture Gallery Tanzania Safari Travelogue - Photos from Selous, Ruaha and Zanzibar plus a travelogue of our visit in 2010
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Ruaha

Zanzibar

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Tanzania (February 2010) Travel Log

Rufiji River, Selous Game Reserve

Outbound

The BA flight touched down on time in Dar Es Salam at about 7am after an uneventful overnight flight from Heathrow, on leaving the aircraft walking down the steps the first thing to hit us was the temperature. It could not of been more different to the sub zero experience of the transit bus departing from terminal 5 out to flight BA0047 sitting somewhere on the vast tarmac at London Heathrow. The heat and humidity of the costal part of Tanzania was startling, the clothes we were wearing and coats we were carrying were totally out of place. It always amazes me how different climates and seasons could be at either end of a long haul flight.

It was a short process through immigration, which did not take too long after we realised we were in the wrong queue, we didn’t need to line up for entry visas, as ours were acquired in the UK, it always pays to do this if you can, irrespective of the country you visit. The queue must have been over 150 strong and moving at a snails pace. When outside the terminal building it was just a short ride to the domestic terminal to board the waiting plane to Selous and beyond.Coastal Aircraft at Selous Safari Camp airstrip

The skies were full of clouds and the humidity high, the wet season had started early this year and I heard a number of references to a mini El Nino, it was certainly different this time. With the exception of my very first time to Africa I had always visited in the dry season when the grass was like straw, few leaves on the trees and waterholes were mostly dry. As we transversed the skies and flew further inland the desert scape of previous trips was now a land of plenty, vivid green all over and water abundant.

Selous - Lake Manze Safari Camp

Pied KingfisherThe flight to Selous Safari Camp airstrip in the Selous Game Reserve was about 45minutes. We were welcomed enthusiastically by our driver and guide, as it turned out we were the only guests to be travelling to Lake Manze Safari Camp which was our destination for the next three nights. The journey was to take about an hour but with a few stops on the way for game viewing it took a bit longer.

It was quite apparent there had been a considerable amount of rain over the few weeks before our trip and I was informed there had been times when travel by road was impossible because of flooding. Fortunately for us we had arrived in a spell of dry weather and the roads were mainly accessible and passable. The grass was lush and the trees were in full leaf and vibrant green, the vista was stunning.

I always carry my camera kit as hand luggage and as soon as the vehicle took to the tacks a few practice shots were the order of the day and both cameras were ready for me to use from the off. One thing I have learnt with photographic safaris, your camera should be ready to shoot at all times, you should be always geared up from the off and put nothing away until you depart from the vehicle at the end of your journey. You never know what is around the next bend. Meru style tent - Lake Manze Camp (our tent) We arrived at the camp in time to unpack a little and then be escorted to lunch by our Masai guard, it was so hot sticky and humid, this, together with the lack of sleep from the overnight flight made a post lunch snooze unstoppable, the tiredness was taking over. By late afternoon the call of the wild started the adrenalin bubbling once more and by 4 o’clock we were boarding the safari vehicle for our afternoon drive.

The big game was not overly abundant and we soon discovered the wet season had a number of safari draw backs, the game now had a larger choice of places to eat and drink and also the foliage was a good place to disappear into.Agressive Elephant But to compensate for the lack of game the scenery was to admire and if you were a bird lover then the bird life was a twitchers paradise. Me, I was after some good photos so I was happy to move from four legs to wings, an added bonus as it was the Africa I had not seen for many years.

The camp itself was sited on the banks of Lake Manze and consisted of a dozen Meru Style tents on hard standings with toilet facilities ensuite, the style was aimed at being close to nature and very relaxed, not luxurious but suitably adequate for the needs of this trip. The evening meals were outside under the stars and sometimes we were accompanied by unexpected visitors. There was a Gennet cat who hunted not far from the dining table and a Scoops Owl who watched over us eating from the branches above. Not to mention the Hippos close by in the Lake and the elephant who was a regular visitor.

The thing I remember most at Lake Manze Camp was the noise of the African night it lasted all through to dawn with Hippo noises abound, even lions and hyenas in the distance and many other loud calls unrecognisable but close by. It was the loudness of the dawn chorus that I still remember which started well before first light with a maze of bird calls from all directions, some sounded so close you’d think they were perched on the tent.

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