After driving along dirt roads through the mountains for about 6 hours, we arrived at the Matambwe Gate of Nyerere National Park. Nyerere, named after Tanzania's first president, is the largest national park in Tanzania at about 31,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles). After our guide Rashid did the paperwork, we made our way slowly through the park toward the Mtemere Gate. Nyerere was lush and green, with shallow lakes surrounded by slowly drying flat areas. We drove around the lakeshores watching hippos, crocodiles, giraffe, impala, warthogs, and many birds.

We arrived at Selous River Camp just before sunset, and were greeted with cool towels and glasses of juice. We spotted monkeys in the trees on the way to our tent. We returned to the bar area for an amazing sunset over the Rufiji River. Our tent had solar powered lights and a fan, but charging and WiFi only in the bar/lounge area overlooking the river.

After the long drive the previous day, our guide suggested we start a bit later, and spend half the day cruising the lakes and river on a boat. We left the lodge at 8am, and drove around the lakes to left of the main road to look for wildlife. We saw lots of giraffe, warthogs, impala, and birds, as well as a hyena dashing across a wide open grassy area.

At lunch time, we stopped at a picnic area near a pool excavated for road materials, now filled with hippos and crocodiles. Small bushy-tailed squirrels darted around the trees and tables while we ate.

When we arrived at camp, the staff showed us a basket on a where we could put our laundry. Evan and Kimberly left their shoes under the table, and when we came back to the room they were gone. We got back very clean, unlaced shoes the next morning.

After lunch, our guide Rashid followed some tracks into an area with lots of lakes, and miraculously (it seemed to us) found a boat with a driver and guide waiting for us on Lake Miwandu. While the crew had lunch and collected wood to make a ramp over the mud, we walked around and watched giraffe and impala.

Once underway, we saw hippos and crocodiles everywhere -- so many they became part of the background, like impala had on land. Crocodiles were swimming, lounging open-mouthed on the bank, and sliding into the water all around us. We passed by palm trees with giant stork nests, and a hippo charged into the water amazingly fast just ahead of us. We stopped to watch an elephant on the bank, and noticed even more wildlife: waterbuck, giraffe, a grazing hippo, baboons, impala, crocodiles, and a heron struggling to swallow a giant catfish.

We returned to camp as the sun was sinking over the river, and watched the sunset from the swimming pool. On the drive in, we'd unsuccessfully looked for mishkaki (beef kebabs) in the village; our guide Rashid asked the camp to make it for us. After dinner, a bush baby jumped onto the table looking for snacks; it looked like a squirrel but moved like a monkey.

The next day, our guide arranged for the lodge to pack us a picnic lunch, and we set out for a full day game drive. We drove further west then we'd been before, around lakes and drier plains. We watched one giraffe rising from its spread-eagle drinking position, and several others loping majestically along. Yet again, we saw an amazing variety of animals, including impala, hippos, crocodiles, wildebeest, waterbuck, baboons, mongoose, and elephants.

Our guide heard a rumor of lions in the area from another group, but another truck said they'd vanished. In the afternoon, we got out and walked around a volcanic hot spring. After dinner, the bush baby returned to the dining area; this time we got pictures!

The next morning, we woke up before sunrise to meet our park ranger guide at 7am for a walking safari. We drove off the road, then followed him single file through the bush. He described how acacia trees can communicate with each other: when a giraffe munches on one, it releases ethylene gas. Other trees detect this and pump tannins into their leaves to make them bitter. Moving slowly on foot, we got a close-up look at an assortment of bones: impala, giraffe, buffalo, and hippo. Driving back, we saw something pinkish alongside the road; when we stopped we realized it was a fresh buffalo ribcage. The ranger got out and carefully listened for the lions who were probably sleeping nearby after their big meal, then invited us for a closer look.

We had a full breakfast back at the lodge, then watched monkeys play in the trees from our back patio. We relaxed in camp and went swimming in the heat of the afternoon.

At 3pm we met our guide for our very last game drive. We watched a group of hippos get out of a pond and disappear in the bush, and stopped to watch giraffe and warthogs. On the way back, we returned to the site of the buffalo kill. We didn't see any activity, but it already looked like it had been stripped by scavengers.