08.00 flight from Zanzibar or 08.30 flight from Dar es Salaam to Ruaha and transfer to Ruaha River Lodge. Overlooking the Great Ruaha River, the lodge offers accommodation in bandas built from local stone and thatch. From the seclusion of your veranda you can watch wild animals as they descend from the hills. The dining bandas and bars, in elevated positions above the river, combine comfort and coolness with unrivalled panoramic views.

At Ruaha River Lodge, full board and excursions. Covering a conservation area of 10,300 square kilometres in the south-west of the country, Ruaha sprawls within and along the Great Rift Valley, covering a unique transition zone where the Eastern and Southern species of both fauna and flora meet against a dramatic topographical backdrop.

This is also one of the few Tanzanian parks where sightings of the rarer antelope, such as the Sable, the Roan and both Lesser & Greater Kudu, are a probability rather than a possibility. The proliferation of plains game in the park also ensures that the larger predators - leopard and large prides of lion - are unusually active. The bird life, too, is unparalleled with some 530 species recorded.

11.45 flight from Ruaha to Selous. Transfer and check-in at Rufiji River Camp on a full-board basis.

The tented camp, situated in the heart of the reserve, is environmentally friendly and each tent is equipped with private bathroom and a veranda facing the river. The camp offers game drives, boat trips, walking safaris and fly camping (the latter is not included in the quote and needs to be booked in advance).

There is a constant flow of animals coming down to drink at the river offering a permanent show to visitors of the camp. The water is usually full of hundreds of hippos as well as groups of crocodiles that laze in the sun on the sandbanks in the river.

The Selous Game Reserve is the largest game reserve in Africa covering an area the size of Switzerland, Selous is possibly Africa's last great wilderness. Despite its size, however, this UNESCO World Heritage site has only a handful of high-end safari camps, allowing it to maintain a low-impact exclusivity that is granted by few parks elsewhere. Opportunities for foot safaris and game walks, boat explorations and the classic 4WD safari in open vehicles add a further unique element to the Selous safari and ensure its reputation for pure bush adventure remains untarnished by volume. 

Take the 15.25 flight from Selous to Dar es Salaam.