Selous Safari Camp Tanzania – ‘One Tusk and Friends’

This post on Tanzania comes courtesy of the intrepid Charlie Inglefield.

‘One Tusk and Friends’

It was very humbling after a first safari evening to settle back on the deck of our luxurious tent with a cocktail in one hand and a camera in the other, witnessing a beautiful African sunset.

My wife and I had arrived in the early afternoon from a relaxing couple of days on the beach at Ras Kutani. Shorts and t-shirts had gladly replaced woollies and scarfs, which we left behind from the arctic conditions covering England in the lead-up to Christmas. ‘Ras’ had been a beautiful introduction to our African honeymoon, but Selous was going to be the true adventure.

Selous National Park was named after Sir Frederick Selous, a renowned British explorer and is the largest national park in Africa. My adrenaline was pumping as our private plane thrillingly swept over the large planes of Selous, revealing a tantalising first glimpse of hippos wallowing in the deadly waters below.

We were met by the delightful Jenny Hartree, the manager of Selous Safari Camp and her trusty cohorts, Mark and Chloe. Chloe efficiently went through some important ground rules, one of which was to be wary of elephants wondering through the camp day and night (which would turn out to be a regular occurrence). Right on cue ‘One Tusk’, a grand old bull elephant and well known to the staff for taking a hungry interest in the kitchen bins, rumbled nonchalantly past us at reception.

The camp’s accommodation consisted of seven tents to the south and six tents to the north, all with premier views of Lake Nzerakera. Our colonial tent was luxurious with two large expertly-styled verandahs on both sides, always goading one to sit back and have a drink to soak up the breathtaking panoramas. Our king-size bed was perfectly positioned to take in the astounding lake sunrises and surrounded by oaky-rich cabinets, chests and elaborate East African carvings. The open-air hot shower was rather special as long as One Tusk’s trunk or the cheeky monkeys (who would sit patiently a safe distance away, waiting for an opportunity to sneak into our tent) didn’t steal the shampoo.

Chloe organised a boat safari to get us started where we were met by Mwita, who was to be an excellent guide and companion throughout our stay. Mwita’s ranger came out with the immortal line regarding boat safety as we were preparing to moor off.

“Life-jackets are stowed underneath your seats – just in case.”

Chances of survival would be rare at best given that there were roughly 275,000 crocodiles inhabiting the 6 lakes in Selous of which Lake Nzerakera adjoins Rufiji River. Doubly so given the many snorting snouts of Africa’s second biggest killer behind malaria – the hippo, watching our boat’s every move. We got very close to the crocodiles, some of whom swam under the boat, others glared directly at us hoping for the opportune moment should our engine decide to pack up and leave us stranded on the river bank. Thankfully our experienced captain allayed any paranoid fears we were having at the time and instead showed us what a spectacular setting Lake Nzerakera was. The abundance of diverse wildlife and birdlife living in and around her waters was wonderful.  We arrived back just in time for a welcoming glass of port and the magical sunset colours beginning to spread across Selous’ skyline.

One of the great appeals to Selous Safari Camp is that it is not fenced and therefore animals are allowed to wonder around at will without being taken out of their natural habitat. This was clearly evident when we were awoken in the early hours to noisy sniffing on the verandah. Later we were told it could have been a hippo, hyena or a multitude of other beasts retiring to bed.

We were up early to meet Mwita and Thambo to go on a walking safari before the Tanzanian sun could take its toll. Thambo took us on a tour outside of the camp, moving nimbly through the African bush and showing the agility of a man half his age and the experience of his 38 years as a tracker. Such was Thambo’s knowledge; we learnt about the texture of hyena faeces to a dung beetle’s capacity to push ten times his weight anything up to a kilometre in distance.

We were treated to a delicious surprise breakfast on the lake waterfront with both Thambo and Mwita joining us. It wasn’t every day that you can be sitting down to bacon and eggs with a crocodile a few metres away, looking for some breakfast of his own.

Having seen so much wildlife by foot and by boat, we were both itching to get out into the open spaces of Selous and Mwita did not disappoint. For two days we were royally treated to an extraordinary personal slide-show of the African animal kingdom’s ‘Who’s Who’. We were truly humbled to witness the worlds most formidable and placid animals go about their daily routine for survival, all within the spectacular confines of Selous National Park.

We sat in awe of being a few feet away from two lionesses resting in the shade and then a moment later marvelling at the playfulness from a pack of rarely seen wild dogs. There are only 3,000 wild dogs left in Africa and although cute, they produce the most inordinate amount of excrement to relay their excitement to each other in anticipation for the next hunting expedition.

Mwita would time the drive back to camp to coincide with the exquisite sunset shows which Tanzania seemed to put on for us every evening. The soothing sounds of the African bush going to bed was best served up by the delicious dinners we had in front of a bonfire or via a quiet glass of wine from the restaurant balcony. It was the attention to detail from the Selous management through to Mwita and the staff which appealed so much. On our last morning ‘One Tusk’ stopped beside our tent doubtless eyeing up some juicy leaves and in the process scaring the author, who was attending to some urgent business in the bathroom. Mother Nature at its best, up close and personal.

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Category: Africa, Travel Blog