In the wild
Going to a safari was even more extreme, wilder and more beautiful than we had imagined.
We took a morning flight on a Friday to Selous south in Tanzania, and the adventure started already there with a 12-seats plane and a scenic 2-hour ride before we landed on a grass field in the middle of the bush. Our driver met us there and drove us to the lodge. The lodge was great, with shower and toilet, but no electricity at day- and night time. But who cares- we were sitting outside, watching hippos and crocodiles floating around in the river just seven meters away!
Our very small airplane towards Selous game reserve.
The queen of the bush meet us already on our first day!
A group of elephants came really close to our car.
On the first game drive it didn´t take more than minutes before we saw lots of giraffes, hundreds of antelopes and about 30 elephants. It’s a strong feeling being surrounded by all these wild animals in an open car, but it felt safe all the way. On the afternoon-safari we saw buffalos, waterbucks, more giraffes, hundreds of hippos and different kinds of birds. Followed by all these animals, we finally found what we were looking for: a lion. It was suddenly there, just four meters from our car, looking at us. I guess we spent half an hour there, just the four of us: our driver, we and the lion that didn’t seem to care about us at all!
The animals made sure we were entertained during the night too. It’s been a little rough for Thomas since a few large hippos came very close to our tent and made strange sounds while eating grass. He also killed two scorpions inside the tent before going to bed. (Jurgita was of course sleeping through it all…)
A hippo-family coming up from the river.
Selous would be a dream-destination for Crocodile Dundee.
There where plenty of girafs.
And we saw more animals (including hyenas and wild dogs) on day 2. So, out of the big five (Lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant and rhino) we saw three. Not bad at all!
Our stay there was very special: Massai people were following us even from the lodge to the restaurant and it was absolutely forbidden to be outside the tent between 22:00 and 6:00!
On Sunday afternoon we were picked up by our transportation home to Zanzibar; a four passenger-seat plane to Dar es Salaam, and then a 12-seat back to Zanzibar! As the plane was full, Jurgita had to sit in front, together with the pilot… (she did turn back to the passengers and promised not to touch anything while we were in the air…)
It was an unforgettable weekend, that’s for sure! (See more pictures below!)
Thomas and Jurgita
A baboon looking at us from a three.
One of the big five: the dangerous buffalo.
Not very common, but still there; the wild dogs.
Group of elephants in a distance.
How many different animals can you see on this picture?
As the only guests at the camp we got a very private and romantic dinner.
Empalas walking slowly close to our car.
Sunset in the jungle.
Watching hippos and crocodiles from our swimmingpool.
Together with our Massai-guards that where watching our tent everyday.
