8-Day Southern Tanzania | Fly-in Ruaha National Park & Selous Game Reserve

Welcome to Tanzania! You’ll be met in Dar es Salaam and assisted to your light-aircraft flight before flying over mountains and wilderness to Msembe Airstrip in Ruaha National Park. You’ll then be met by a representative of Kigelia Ruaha for a road transfer back to the camp, where you can settle in and enjoy lunch.

Today you can take a drive through Ruaha National Park in a custom-built, open game drive vehicle. This is the best way to get up close to the multitude of wildlife that call Ruaha home. Between drives, you can also get out on foot. Being on your own legs in the bush is a completely different experience. You can stand tall beneath the towering baobab trees, or on bent knee to examine the spoor of the lion or the antics of the ant lion. Walking gives you an appreciation of the tranquillity and vastness of the bush.

Besides exploring as you did yesterday, here they also enjoy taking you out for breakfast and sundowners in the bush. Whether you’re out and about in an open game drive car – perfect for traversing the beautiful and varied habitats of the park – treading the game trails with your guide or relaxing next to the glowing fire under the Kigelia trees, this is where you should be.

Enjoy breakfast and depart Kigelia Ruaha to Msembe Airstrip for your aircraft flight to Selous. You’ll land at Kiba Airstrip to be welcomed and embark on a short road transfer to Sand Rivers Selous. Now that you are here, enjoy the spectacular view while you have a relaxed lunch before overlooking the Rufiji River from the open-fronted deck of your stone-and-thatch cottage.

Enjoy an early morning game drive, in the open-sided 4×4 vehicles, then enjoy lunch in camp followed by a siesta and an afternoon game drive. In the times of year when it’s not too hot, you can also venture out for full day game drives with a packed picnic lunch. You can also go on a walking safari or a boat safari down the Rufiji River. Walking in the bush takes safari down to a slower pace, and is a chance to learn, touch and feel Africa.

In between your game-viewing adventures, relax in the open-fronted lounge, dine in the communal and private dining areas or take a dip in one of the pools – all while you watch life on the river go by. Why not take a visit to the nearby hot springs for warm-water dip? It is all about retaining spontaneity wherever possible.

Spend the day at leisure taking in all that the lodge and its surrounding have to offer. Often the best way to see things – to avoid scattering animals from the lakeshore or spooking a herd of elephant as they feed their way through a stretch of lush grassland – is to hop down and quietly work your way into a good position on foot.

Today brings the end of your adventure. Embark on a short drive to Kiba Airstrip in time for your 45-minute flight back to Dar es Salaam, for your further travel arrangements.