Safari in the Selous

A pride of female lions sits in the shade to beat the late afternoon heat after gorging themselves on a wilda beast kill. Shot with a 5D Mark II, 24-105mm, and an off camera 580EX with Pocket Wizard Flex TT5’s (Photo by Donald Miralle)

My first trip to Africa started with a trip to the Selous Game Reserve, the oldest and largest protected area in Africa named after Englishman big game hunter and conservationist Sir Frederick Selous. Located in Southern Tanzania it covers an area of approximately 54,600 square kilometers, over double the size of the famous Serengeti and larger than Switzerland. It was a made a World Heritage Site in 1982 due to its rich and untouched biodiversity, and after some thought I opted for a three day safari there rather than the Serengeti because of the high density of wildlife and low density of tourists. It is also very accessable through Coastal Aviation out of Dar Es Salaam, the main city hub you fly into Tanzania. I booked with Enchanting Africa Safaris Tours last minute (literally as I was flying into the country) and thanks to Hildy Rubin and crew for seeing my reservations and accomodations through. I stayed at the fantastic Maze Lake Camp run by Richard and Sarah who do a great job managing the camp, and booked me a wonderful array of private land and water safaris (the Selous is the only place in Africa where you can go on a river/lake safari tour). From waking up in the morning to the sound of the local elephant “Rafiki” eating brush outside my tent, seeing a pride of lions killing wilda beasts, to dedicated Masai Warriors guarding the campsite at night, cape buffaloes and hippos challenging our boat on the Rufiji River, and having a lunch on safari under a 2,000 year old Baobab trees, I have more unbelievable memories that will last a lifetime. Here are some of those moments captured in photos, hope you enjoy and as always feedback is welcome! You can see the photos larger on my website here. More photos from Africa to coming soon…

The vast Selous covers over 54,600 square kilometers, an area larger than many countries (Photo by Donald Miralle)

A hippo sits in the edge of Manze lake grazing while birds fly around picking off insects. (Photo by Donald Miralle)

A male African Elephant “Rhafiki” wakes me up outside my tent in the morning. Despite their size elephants are extremely stealth and quite in the bush and you don’t know one is near until he is over you and you can hear his breath. (Photo by Donald Miralle)

Giraffes feed along the shores of Lake Manze at sunrise (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A crocodile hides in the mangroves at sunset at Lake Rufiji in the Selous. (Photo by Donald Miralle)

Two impalas in a bachelor group lock horns. (Photo by Donald Miralle)

A single tusked elephant grazes along the Maze river at sunset as birds pick out insects behind his tracks (Photo by Donald Miralle).

Dead trees line the shores of Lake Manze making a surrealist Dali-like landscape (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A solitary male lion looks on from the Selous reserve (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A female lion stalks prey in the grass at the Selous reserve (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A lion clamps down on the neck of a wilda beast. She was a member of a female pride consisting of a mother and two daughters (Photo by Donald Miralle).

Lions feed on the carcas of a wilda beast. They gorged themsleves on it through the evening before leaving little for scavangers (Photo by Donald Miralle).

The one-eyed matriarch of the pride looks on. She lost an eye hunting and probably will succumb sooner than later (Photo by Donald Miralle).

Wild dogs have been hunted down in most of Africa but have done well in the Selous, and have the highest hunting kill percentage of any carnivore in Africa. (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A spotted hyena flees the scene with a full belly and a bloody muzzle (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A Fisher Eagle with a recently killed meal perched in a dead tree on Rufiji River (Photo by Donald Miralle). These large raptors which resemble a bald eagle feed on fish, reptiles and even other birds (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A Pied Kingfisher looks on from a low lying branch over the river waiting for an unsuspecting fish to swim by (Photo by Donald Miralle).

White-Fronted Bee-Eaters sit outside of their nests burrowed in the banks of the river. The Selous is a bird’s lovers paradise with over 440 species of bird present (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A yellow-billed stork looks for food along the Rufiji River banks (Photo by Donald Miralle)

A 2,000 year old Baobab Tree at sunset. The Selous is the largest protected dry forest ecosystem in Africa (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A brown-hooded kingfisher looks on (Photo by Donald Miralle).

Zebras look on from a distance. One kick from a Zebras hind legs can kill a full-grown lion (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A hippo comes ups for a peek and some air as my boat approaches (Photo by Donald Miralle)

Two elephants lock horns (Photo by Donald Miralle)

An aerial view of dead trees in Lake Siwandu (Photo by Donald Miralle).

One of the most dangerous animals in the bush, a Cape Buffalo stares down my camera at dusk (Photo by Donald Miralle).

The Selous bush has scattered bones like this wilda beast throughout as visitors are not allowed to touch animal’s remains (Photo by Donald Miralle).

One of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen on the shores on Lake Manze (Photo by Donald Miralle).

My Masai Warriors friends Emmanuel and Paolo stand outside my camp at sunrise. I was amazed how in touch the Masai were with nature and their surroundings (Photo by Donald Miralle).

The view from my tent on the shores of Lake Manze (Photo by Donald Miralle).

A view from the inside of my tent, which I shared with a gecko and skink roommates that were great for helping with the bugs (Photo by Donald Miralle).

On the front of my safari boat with my long glass and off-camera flash (Photo by Donald Miralle).

Best safari crew in the North Selous – (L-R) Emmanuel the Masai Warrior, Adam the guide, myself and Emmanuel the driver (Photo by Donald Miralle).