8 Days Southern Tanzania Safari

Arrive into Mwalimu Nyerere International Airport in Dar es salaam,where you’ll be met and assisted to board your light aircraft to Nyerere National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Tanzania's largest Game Reserve, the Reserve is roughly the size of Switzerland. On arrival a Smart African Travel representative will warmly welcome you to your luxuriously-furnished tented safari camp, nestled on the shores of Lake Nzerakera, which is fed by the Rufiji River, the largest river in East Africa, and home to over a million large animals including over half of Tanzania’s elephant population. Your safari begin with a motorboat tour down the mighty river.
Your expert boatman and guide, will quietly maneuver along the inlets to help you get close-up photos of the many hippos and crocodiles. The shores of Rufiji River offers some of the world’s best water birding opportunities in Africa. In the evening, your wildlife immersion continues as you sit on your verandah watching the hippos and elephant meandering through your camp.

SELOUS GAME CAMP, (D)

Following a leisurely breakfast, join your experienced and Knowledgeable guide for a game drive as the animals come down to the water to drink. The whole morning is at your disposal to traverse the woodlands and plains, wild and largely untouched by man, as you look out for some 60,000 elephant, over 100,000 buffalo and nearly a third of the worlds' approximately 4,000 remaining rare wild dogs. Mid-day can be spent lounging near the pool at your camp and when the temperatures are cool continue your exploration of the reserve’s wetlands late afternoon. After a delicious dinner, tuck in for the night to a chorus of bellowing hippos and whooping hyenas in the distance.

SELOUS GAME CAMP, (BLD)

Today you rise rise early for a gentle stroll through the wilderness with your guide with focus at the smaller life in the bush. You have an opportunity to learn about the area’s ecology, birding, tracking and medicinal uses of trees. Thereafter, venture to view the stunning Stiegler’s Gorge, carved where the Great Ruaha River flows into the Rufiji River.You have the option of trying some fishing on the lake or set out on an afternoon game drive. In the enjoy a mount watering dinner of the freshest local ingredients prepared by your chef and toast your day’s adventures.

Another exciting day,with several activities to choose from as you please, You can decide to join game drives or a motor boat cruise on the lake. Engage in photography as you spot sable antelope, greater kudu, wildebeest, Leichenstein's hartebeeste, impala, waterbuck, eland, reedbuck, zebra, giraffe and warthogs - among the 400 animal species found here. In the evenignn, savor a glass of fine wine as you ponder the vast wilderness and the Milky Way illuminates the sky.

Time to leave Nyerere National Park as you are transferred to the nearest airstrip to take board your scheduled flight to central Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, named for the Great Ruaha River. Your intimate and exclusive safari camp is nestled beneath shady acacia trees on the banks of the Jongomero Sand River. On arrival, your expert ranger guide greet you and invite you for a game drive to view the herds of elephant and buffalo, as well as search for the full menagerie of safari favorites - giraffe, zebra, impala, eland, hippo, crocodile, lion and leopard. Spot the Dik-diks that are abound all over the park and rarely does a drive return without having glimpsed the noble greater kudu. Enjoy nonstop wildlife viewing as the animals are free to pass through your unfenced camp.You are likely to see elephants daily, lions occasionally pass through, and, ever so often, you may find the tracks of a leopard winding down the main pathway.

Spend the day exploring the park’s diverse vegetation ranging from treeless grasslands and swamps to evergreen forests on morning and afternoon game drives. During the dry season, it’s possible to spot well over 100 elephants in a single drive and herds of buffalo of more than 500. Observe hippo and crocodile as you follow the river, lined with tall stands of acacia, fig, tamarind and clumps of palms.The Park boasts more than 500 different bird species Birders making the park a bird watchers paradise. Adventure seekers can opt for a one- or two-day fly camping expedition, walking through the reserve and overnighting in a small fly-camp or satellite camp.

Enjoy a cup of coffee in your camp before you join your expert guide for a morning game drive in search of the park’s lesser-seen creatures with also a possibility of spotting sable antelope in the miombo areas in the western part of the park or roan antelope in the eastern area. Search for lesser kudus and Grants gazelle in the south, or travel north in search of wild dogs. Later, you may wish to take a bush walk and picnic and learn about a few of the some 1,650 mostly flowering plants found in the park. Or simply relax in your secluded tent and enjoying spectacular views of the sand river, frequented by a multitude of animals on their way to water.

You have a last chance to enjoy your last morning soaking up the wilderness as you leisurely head to the airstrip to board your scheduled flight to Dar es Salaam where you be connecting with your homebound flight.

Sadly you have to leave Tanzania as you take a private transfer to Kilimanjaro airport for your return flight or choose to extend your time in Africa with a beach stay in Zanzibar.