Together with a friend I stayed 6 nights at Sable Mountain Lodge, of which 2 were spent fly-camping in the bush. We came in from Dar with the train going to Kasaki, where we were met at the train and taken to the camp for a late evening meal.
Taking the train (6h) and experiencing life along the rail road was in itself a colorful experience, that I recommend - and then fly out.
Selous is a place you want to choose for your safari if you want away from the crowds of jeeps and do the 'hunting' for sightings yourself - aided of course by your very skilled safari guide. Don't expect to get as close to the animals - apart form the lions, who do not care about you at all - as in the northern parks, as the wild life is less accustomed to vehicles, but then again this is the amazing thing about this place.
You have the option of doing morning/evening or full day safaris, fly camping (sleeping in the bush under the southern skies - bed, mosquito net of course is part of the package) and walking safaries. We saw lots of elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, buffalos, a group of 15 wild dogs, plus a wide range of different antelopes.
We enjoyed our stay at Sable Mountain immensely, excellent service from the staff wether at the lodge or while fly-camping, very tasty, hearty food (meat and veggies cooked to perfection). All cottages are located in undisturbed surroundings, we had a 'basic' stoen cottages, and a fan would have been nice some nights, however, as everything is run as 'green' as possible, that is not part of the set-up. Besides that minor detail, the stone cottage we had was very charming in a rustique way and met all are needs and requirements. We were offered a peek into one of the tented honeymoon suites - just gorgeous, that's the only way to describe it - no. 10, I believe - excellent view onto a dried out riverbed.
Last but not least, Tara and David, the owners, are just fantastic people and their company strongly contributed to making the evenings over dinner joyful and memorable.
- Sable Mountain Hotel
