“A bad days fishing is better than a good days work”

We couldn’t agree more, although we combine the two more often than most and end up with the best of both! It’s a wonderful alternative to the walks and game drives – just find a perch, (each of our guides will advise you of his own “secret fish hotspot”) cast off and while away an hour or two enjoying just being here!


The inspiration for our latest outing with the rods and tackle came in the guise of this Giant Kingfisher. We had all sat for lunch when this juvenile male (you can tell by the patchy chestnut breast band) plunged headlong into the water to retrieve an unfortunate fish.




We were alerted to his presence by the squeaks of our waitress Flora who took exception to him beating the life out of his quarry on the banister of the restaurant deck. Patently ignoring these protestations the tenacious little chap proceeded to spend 15 minutes tenderizing his meal. We’d all but given up watching when, the preparation being complete; he swallowed his lunch in one!
                                     Nature is marvelous!

Good Gnu’s

Not the prettiest of our neighbours, the noble wildebeest rarely makes it into the limelight of the Sand Rivers Blog. This territorial bull from the Miombo woodland area doesn’t have the luxury of blending into the crowd like the millions of his brethren that rumble past Lamai every year.

He has to tough it out on his own until one of the breeding herds consisting of a few females and young deems his area suitable for a temporary stay – he’ll try his best to keep them in but inevitably the grass will prove greener at some stage and he’s have to watch them leave.

To reach these dizzy heights of success he needs heightened senses and presumably a nervous, high strung disposition. We’ve seen lions hunting them and their acceleration is incredible – the big cats have to get the jump on a bull wildebeest to catch him. In lovely evening light we recently watched this old pro flexing his muscles.

Stiegler’s Gorge…’ere be dragons!!

It’s been said before but we’ll say it again; a morning expedition up the Rufiji River to Stiegler’s Gorge is a magnificent activity. Leaving at dawn - it feels like we’re heading out in search of the “blank spaces on the map” that all those explorer diaries have alluded to.

Rounding a bend, where we plan to switch off the motor and begin our silent drift downstream towards the lodge, we disturb this pile of crocodiles!


Seeing so many together certainly raises a few eye-brows in the boat – it’s a firm reminder that these creatures are far more social and complex than their reputation would have us believe.

As we continue downstream we spot this impressive adult, he was concealed when we passed him on the way up, quietly observing us from his basking place as we made our way upstream him by. Now in full view he took his time to slip silently into the water.




The crocodile is often described as an unchanged ancient creature harking back to the age of dinosaurs. This, however, doesn’t quite do the apex predator justice. It took a vast number of adaptations over 250 million years to reach this modern day river monster, to hear the taxonomist’s state that they are the closest living relatives to birds should surely reaffirm this!

None the less - the cool light of the gorge certainly adds to the prehistoric feel of these photographs.

Great for Grazers!

The Selous is nothing short of Lush this time of year – and it feels like every inch of the place is thriving.

Our residents seem well aware that this time of plenty will be a distant memory in a number of weeks and their taking full advantage of the salad buffet! 

Emerging from a thicket of riverine forest into a little clearing this evening gave us the perfect reminder that there’s magic in diversity.

The Rufiji seems to drop each morning giving us an indicator that things are drying out. You get caught up in this dynamic, untamed system living in this little outpost in the thick of it.

In search of Lycaon Pictus

Our first group of guests in camp were no strangers to safari. Having met in Serengeti several years ago the group of ten have been travelling through Africa ever since. This year’s adventure brought them down from Rwanda into Serengeti then through Ruaha to a finale at Sand Rivers Selous. There has been an infectious buzz of enthusiasm throughout the lodge during their past three nights. The name on everyone’s lips…the African Wild Dog.

Cites listed “endangered” with a population fewer than 5,500 it is hardly surprising that these painted canids are so often the cherry on the cake that eludes the most seasoned of safari veterans. This pack of seven gave us dawn and evening viewing in an area we call “the garden” just north of the lodge. There were some pretty broad smiles around camp this evening.

There are no guarantees when it comes to viewing wild animals in their natural habitat but with the highest population of wild dogs on the continent and boasting a surprising density of this species (one every 30 square KM is hardly dense but it’s a striking difference to Serengeti’s one in 208 square KM), the Selous is a pretty good bet!

                                       

Karibu Tena

The lodge team has returned from a well earned holiday with their families. The heavy rains have been and gone and the camp is a hive of activity as managers, waiters, guides and chefs get stuck in assisting the maintenance chaps with preparations for the off.

The night before our first guests of the season arrived found us enjoying our first sundowner in the reserve. Ice cubes clinking in a pair of G&T’s, watching the impala silhouetted on the ridge-line ahead of us – welcome back to Sand Rivers Selous.

Cubs update

It's two weeks on since our last blog on the cubs, we have been seeing them regularly in a long drainage line scattered with Doum plams and Long pod cassias, both providing good shade and hiding places for the cubs. Yesterday after a big storm we found the adults out in the open enjoying lying in the cool water drenched sand. Under a little bush we spotted the cubs looking very tired but in good condition. It still looks like their mother is doing a good job of looking after them.