Undiscovered South - 6 night safari

Day 1 – 3: Take a scheduled coastal airlines flight from Dar-es-Salaam to the Selous Game Reserve. You stay at Sand River one of the most luxurious lodges in Tanzania, through some of the most diverse & game rich habitat in the Selous. Selous Game Reserve at a little over 50,000 sq kms is one of the largest areas set aside for wildlife preservation anywhere in the world. The northern sector is scenically the most beautiful, dominated by the Rufiji River with its dense riverine forest thickets and its lakes and swamplands interlaced with a myriad of channels. As well as its open savannah, terminalia woodland and seasonal ‘mbugas’ the predominant vegetation is its miombo woodland which, particularly in the southern part of the reserve stretches for miles.

Each day of your stay is designed to be different and to offer unrivalled exposure to this stunning African landscape. With a mixture of vehicle, boating and walking safaris something is on offer for everyone. The lodge’s specialty walking safaris are concentrated around the early morning & late afternoon, with opportunities for fishing and relaxing in the shade, perhaps around a waterhole, soaking up the sounds & smells of Africa…

Day 4: Today you travel through the northern section of the Selous Game Reserve viewing game en route including a stop off for lunch in Mikumi National Park. Udzungwa National Park contains the greatest altitudinal range of forests in East Africa. Because of such a wide range in altitude and habitat types, Udzungwa National Park has one of the highest numbers of species endemism worldwide.

With no roads entering Udzungwa National Park it is a paradise for hikers and your next days will be spent on breath-taking day-hikes into the dense rain forest or onto the high plateau.

Day 5: Today you will trek is up to the Sanje River Waterfall, which plunges for 170 metres through the forest to the valley below. The view from the top is magnificent!

Day 6: You spend your day in Mikumi National Park. Mikumi National Park is composed primarily of the Mkata River flood plain, this is surrounded by gently rolling hills covered in miombo woodland

Although less spectacular than some of the more illustrious Tanzanian National Parks, Mikumi still offers a good safari experience with typical flora and fauna of East Africa. There is a rich variety of bird species as well as large numbers of giraffes, buffaloes and elephants and close to the waterholes lions, leopards and hippos. Furthermore, you can see zebras, wild dogs, pythons, hartebeest, wildebeest, elephants, impala, warthog, eland and other antelope. Several observation towers enable you to view the park in its entirety.

Day 7: After an early morning game drive you return by road to Dar-es-Salaam in time with your onward connecting flight or to the beach in Zanzibar.