Walking Safari in Selous Game Reserve

The opportunity to tread where no man has been before does not come along too often, so when I was recently invited to test a new mobile camp and walking safari route through Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve I jumped at the chance.

Selous is located in southern Tanzania, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is arguably Africa’s largest protected wildlife area. What is not open to argument is that Selous offers some of the most interesting walking safaris in one of the last untamed wilderness areas in Africa.

I travel down by TAZARA train to Matambwe station, headquarters for the Selous Game Reserve, and meet up with my walking companions. David - safari lodge owner and guide, Festo – son of a Selous ranger and brought up in the reserve, now one of the finest guides working in Selous, and Chalonga – Selous ranger for 25 years and our MWG (man with gun). All experts in their field, all friends of many years – I could not be walking in better company.

David and Festo have been researching a new mobile camping concept for 18 months. Located in the very remote south west corner of Selous, far from the main tourist areas and lodges, two small camps sleeping a maximum of four people are set up and we were to be testing a new walking safari route connecting these two base camps.

We drive for two hours not passing another car, Festo stopping to point out birds and beasts which my untrained eye miss along the way. The first nights camp had been set up before our arrival on the corner of a dry riverbed. Ninety degree views overlook the pools of water which still provide sustenance for a variety of animals after the long rains.

We are welcomed with cold drinks and shown to our bed for the night. Which happens to be twelve feet in the air! Twin beds have been placed on two raised platforms commanding spectacular views in a safe environment - wildlife literally walks underneath you oblivious to the spy in the sky. This was not what I had imagined when thinking of camping and much later I discover why David calls the two structures star nests as the huge night sky unfolds above me.

We are all curious to see what level of wildlife activity the remaining waterholes are attracting so we set off down into the riverbed for a quick walk before the sun disappears. The beauty of a sand riverbed is that it provides an idiot’s guide to identifying animal tracks, which are perfectly preserved in the sand. Festo points out the difference between waterbuck and impala, hyena and lion, giraffe and buffalo and everywhere we look is the unmistakable sign of hippo, which can be heard grumbling nearby. We return to camp and dinner laid out under the stars, the sounds of the night accompanying chicken curry and rice and cold beer. This really is not how I imagined a spot of camping to be, it is proper service in the middle of nowhere.

After a magical starry night interrupted occasionally by the whooping of hyena we are all up at first light eager to start walking. Festo quietly gives a talk we have all heard many times before explaining hand and whistle signals, warning of animal behavior patterns and how we should behave in different circumstances whilst walking if we encounter danger. Unlike the repetitious air safety talks given by the airlines we all listen intently, it is a fool who becomes complacent in the bush. We are to walk about eight kilometres with our destination being a different camp set on the banks of the Rufiji River but it is a route which is new to all of us, and probably any man for many years.

We have all walked together in the past and automatically slip into a single file, David at the head followed by Festo, then me and finally Chalonga bringing up the rear, gun slung over his shoulder. After half an hour I notice the first signs of sweat starting to appear on David’s back. Festo is still cool as a cucumber. I had started to sweat after fifteen minutes.

We walk in a silence sometimes interrupted by the snort of a zebra, nostrils flaring in alarm followed by the thunder of hooves and a cloud of dust, or wildebeest staring stupidly until they rear up in a head shaking extravaganza and wheel away wildly. Movements give away the quieter animals, giraffe sashaying elegantly to safety, including a days old baby already attuned to our danger, the flash of black and white on an impala’s rump trembling in fear as dung drops to the ground, a belligerent warthog standing his ground, tail proudly erect, but body shaking slightly despite the bluff, as we continue ever forward. All these signals, movements, sounds and smells are amplified when you walk in the bush - the crack of a twig or the sudden flapping of wings as francolin burst from the long grass - and it occurs to me that it is not just us that are on maximum alert out here, the animals live in a perpetual state of heightened awareness purely to survive day to day, and today we represent the danger.

Sometimes Festo stops to point out birds for my benefit then he and David engage conversations with the birds themselves, at one point sending a chattering honeyguide, which was pleading with us to follow him, into hysterics.

Sometimes David stops dead in his tracks hand held high as a warning as he scans the bush ahead. On one occasion I am looking sideways and walk into the stationary back of Festo who turns with a smile. Fresh buffalo dung, still warm, brings me to my senses proving it does not pay to switch off. Ahead is an area of thicker miombo woodland, a different terrain to the open spaces we had been reveling in for the first hour, visibility is poor. I am already searching for a suitable tree to climb, Chalonga casually moves his gun from shoulder to crook of arm. We wait, silence except for the buzz of a fly, no movement, the hand comes down, we continue our safari.

In the thicket a whistle from behind brings us to a halt. Chalonga is kneeling a few feet from our path and smiling. "Kifaru" he whispers pointing at the fresh spoor. Rhino. This is a real bonus as the black rhino has been almost poached to extinction in Selous and we all smile with Chalonga, happy to see there is at least one survivor out here.

I am less comfortable in the miombo but soon it starts to open up again and we enter a clearing. A clearing occupied by 2 adult elephants and one adolescent, all dozing underneath a baobab tree about twenty feet to our right. We crouch down, all instinctively checking the wind direction. We are lucky, we are downwind and they are at ease. We move back into cover and observe them awhile, gentle giants all close together, touching and leaning on one another, providing support, comfort and love. It is an intimate moment and we quietly take a roundabout route and leave them at peace. Not much further we discover the rest of the herd, luckily we are still downwind but they have a very young baby in their midst. We all recognize the danger at the same time, the elephants ripping out squeals of anger which literally reverberate in the air, and the ground shakes as they charge. Fortunately they are charging away from us to safety, and the whole encounter is over in a few seconds filled with noise and confusion. We all look at each other and smile, it is easy to be brave after the event and if pushed it is these moments we secretly crave.

The rest of the walk is less eventful. We start to descend and hear the sounds of the Rufiji long before we see it, the grunting of hippo echoing up towards us. Then finally the flash of light reflecting from the water, the unmistakable call of a fish eagle and we see the river in all her glory. Hippo relax in the shallows letting the water flow over their bodies, crocodiles are lounging on the sand bars, mouths slightly agape, apparently comatose but ever watchful, some waterbuck graze on the far shore, a saddlebill stork prods the water with it’s amazing bill. Peace and serenity after the mayhem when we encountered the elephant.

We walk along the river bank until we come upon a large clearing with some familiar looking structures – our second camp perched on the edge of the river is constructed in the same star nest style. In the distance we see vultures circling but Gorgeous George, the camp waiter, diverts our attention with cold drinks whilst requesting our lunch preferences. The walk has taken a little over three hours and we have arrived before the worst of the sun’s heat, it’s a good time to relax in a beautiful location – there’s no hurry in Africa and certainly not out here. I lounge in a hammock jotting thoughts and watching a heron fish.

As the sun reaches it’s zenith we hear the unmistakable groan of lion. We all look at the vultures, then at each other, smiles all round. "Two kilometres" says Chalonga. We slip into line and head towards the vultures as a despairing call behind us from George pleads "but what about lunch". Sometimes lunch can wait.

For further information on mobile camping and walking safaris in Selous Game Reserve contact:
Authentic Tanzania
Email: info@authentictanzania.com
Website: www.authentictanzania.com