The Best of Southern Tanzania

Comfy custom-built open game drive vehicles are perfect for traversing the beautiful and varied habitats of the park. Game drives are the best way to get up close to the multitude of wildlife that calls Ruaha home; big-maned lions, great herds of elephant, the handsome greater kudu or statuesque sable.

Between drives, you can also get out on foot. Being on your own two pegs gives you a totally different experience. You can stand beneath the towering baobab trees, feeling the smooth warm texture of it's mighty trunk beneath your fingers, or crouch to examine the antics of an ant lion as it hunts from a sandy cone in the dust. Walking gives you an appreciation of the tranquility, complexity and vastness of the African wilderness and we think it's one of the best things you can do on safari. Being in the company of a trained and experienced guide both ensures your safety and opens the door onto the wonders of our natural surroundings.

Getting out after dark allows you to see nocturnal critters who are otherwise hiding out during the day. Whether it's the smaller but fascinating genets, civets and porcupines, or the big game like lion and leopard it's a thrilling encounter and a totally different perspective. Night drives need to be pre-booked.

Set out to explore Katavi with Nomad Tanzania's expert guides. Game drives typically run in the early morning from dawn until late morning, and in the afternoon from 3:30pm to sunset. Full day game drives are also available but preferably as part of a privately guided safari as most activities are on a shared basis. Private guide and vehicle available if pre-booked and there is a supplement to be paid. Night drives are also possible from Chada Katavi and must be pre-booked.

There's walking and then there's real walking; bush walking in a good pair of boots where you want to keep going on and on. Katavi makes you feel like this, it might be something to do with the endless plains around you and vast open skies. Not to mention what you might see whilst you're out there.

With your guide, and an armed scout, along for the ride, you could find yourself watching elephants from up close marveling at how, despite their size, they can move so quietly; or be meandering along the river line seeing all the different birds around the pools, and crocs and hippos who are a big feature of Katavi life. Animals who would often take flight at the sound of a vehicle, won't even know you're there and that's what makes walking out here such an incredible experience.

Walk out from camp to your flycamp where you will spend a night out under the stars. You'll sleep in a mosquito netted tent, small but with enough room for a bedroll kitted out with soft mattress, sheets and a feather pillow. Nomad don't scrimp on the dining either; you'll sit down to a three-course candlelit meal and a glass of chilled wine. But, these are only the peripheral things, the backdrop to the main event. The whole point about flycamping is being out there at night, lying on your back looking up at the night sky through the roof of your netted tent; listening to the animal sounds, so different from those you hear during the day. Under the careful guard of your guide and armed ranger you can drift off to the bush lullaby and just take it all in.

Without sounding too dramatic, it is hard to imagine your life not being changed in even the smallest of ways after something like this.

At Sand Rivers our open-sided 4x4 vehicles are a great way of seeing things and for covering a bit of distance when that's what's needed. And of course there are times when they give you the best views, access and photographic opportunities to the wildlife that calls the Selous home. We do either two drives a day, in the early morning and then the early afternoon, with a wonderful siesta and lunch in camp between. In the times of year when it's not too hot we also venture out for full day game drives with a packed picnic lunch.

We like to retain spontaneity wherever we can. Often the best way to see things, to avoid scattering animals from the lakeshore, or spooking a herd of elephant as they feed their way through a stretch of lush grassland, is to hop down and quietly work our way into a good position on foot. Walking in the bush takes safari down to a slower pace, and is a chance to learn, touch and feel Africa, to get a glimpse at the incredible flora and little critters that call it home.

Being on the river - never mind the game - is a fantastic contrast to time spent in a vehicle. Drifting silently down stream, gently spiraling in the current, watching the river banks unfold is hard to beat. But here again we like to take time to stop. Creep carefully through paths in the thick riverine bush and you'll emerge - unseen - in magical secluded flood plains. More often than not there are treats in store; vast flocks of great white pelicans fishing in dwindling pools, wallowing families of elephant socialising, prides of lion sleeping off a meal.

Flycamping is a wonderful surpise, best left unexplained. If you ask us it's simple, you have to try it. This is a peculiarly East African passion and the way things were done in the old days; with the minimum of fuss, but not scrimping on any of the comforts. As is so often the way, when you limit the frills, it allows you to really see what's special and what's going on around you.

Watching elephant as they pass by your camp in the moonlight, silent feet in the warm sand, or simply gazing through the mosquito net roof of your tent from the comfort of your bedroll. We've been doing this now for close to 20 years. People's reactions vary, some find it quite emotional, others feel a child-like sense of freedom and release (one man ran round in small circles crying like a 5 year old) and of course quite a few admit to feeling a little scared. But it's simply no exaggeration to say that in all those years, virtually nobody regrets trying this most special of experiences.