Selous Game Reserve & Mafia Island holiday

This superb fly-in trip enables you to visit the remote Selous Game Reserve bush camps quickly - a good option for those pressed for time. Light aircraft scheduled services run between the parks, reserves and islands. This trip offers you the best of the awesome Selous Game Reserve (42,000 sq. km of wilderness) and a slice of beach paradise that is the Mafia Archipelago.

You'll start by spending three nights at the photogenic Selous Impala Camp - located along the banks of the Rufiji River. Each of the Meru-style tents are raised on wooden platforms which face the river, allowing you to sit back and relax after a day’s safari and watch as the wildlife comes to down to the river to drink.

For a bit more adventure, you’ll then spend one night ‘fly-camping’ out in the bush. After venturing further out into the Selous Game Reserve during the afternoon, you’ll stay overnight on proper camp beds at the ‘fly-camping’ site. After dinner and a warm shower you’ll fall asleep to the sounds of the African bush, and wake at dawn to the chorus of birdsong.

The final 5 nights will be spent in the Mafia Archipelago - five sleepy tropical islands, clustered together in the Indian Ocean. Though only a 35-minute flight from Dar, these islands are little known and rarely visited. A highlight of your trip will be 5 nights at the remarkable Chole Mjini Lodge. It has no fence around it, and simply merges with the village. Six tree-houses stand on stilts, high up in baobab trees. From your tree-top, you look over the mangroves to the sea beyond. Bathrooms, at the base of the trees, have shared compost toilets and romantic open-air showers with plenty of hot water. In the main boma you will find large comfy cushions for relaxing on, many games, novels, reference books and a central table for dining.