African wild dogs in Nyerere, Tanzania

Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve is four times larger than the Serengeti, yet it’s largely undiscovered by tourists. Responsible Travel’s Anna Rice had a dream to travel to Selous in search of one of Africa’s most endangered predators – and also one of its most elusive: the African wild dog. But with just 800 dogs remaining in an area larger than Switzerland – would the long journey south be worth it?

Getting to Selous would be half the adventure however as it involves flying from Dar es Salaam in a tiny turbo prop plane – not an experience I was relishing as a non-confident flyer! Squeezing into the 12-seater Cessna, which seemed to bounce about as people and bags were loaded on at Dar, did not do much to allay my fears, nor did its side to side rocking routine as we climbed through some midday thermals. A man in the seat across the tiny aisle could see I wasn’t enjoying the journey and started to point through the window – “just look”, he said. The blue and red roofs of Dar had transitioned into miles and miles of dusty red and gold plains segmented by thin, grey river tributaries. Mesmerised by the African wilderness, I soon forgot about everything else. Our camp, as it turned out, was the furthest along the Rufiji River, which meant we were treated to quite a few ‘bush landings’ before the journey was through to drop off other passengers, post and groceries. One of these involved a last minute turn and re-circle to avoid two giraffes that had decided to nonchalantly cross the makeshift runway.