Hot springs, the Rufiji river, and wild animals

There is a wonderful hot spring about an hour out of camp and we took a detour on our game drive to have a look and explore.  Because of the rain over the last few days the water had become muddy but I still went in and the water was as warm as a hot tub.  The pool is quite narrow but as you can see from this picture quite deep and when I came out I felt beautifully refreshed.

 

The Selous Game Reserve is the home to Africa's largest population of elephants and we were able to find some every day while we were there.  In the heat of the midday sun this sensible family had found the cool refuge in the shade of a large tamarind tree.
 

The reserve is also home to over 440 bird species including this Northern Carmine Bee-eater which had caught itself a nice big snack on the wing.
 

 One of the great features of this area of the Selous is to explore the Rufiji river by boat which makes a great contrast from bouncing around in a vehicle.  The river was quite high from the recent rains but we still had to stick to the main channel to avoid grounding on the numerous sandbars which shift from season to season.
 

We slowly worked our way upstream against the current and the river got more and more narrow as we approached Stiegler's Gorge, named for a hapless Swiss hunter who was killed near there by an elephant in 1900.  We stopped here in the gorge to stretch our legs and have a coffee break all the while being watched by a crocodile which we had startled off his sandbank when we approached the shore.
 

The gorge has been suggested as a site for a hydro-electric dam to supply power to Dar es Salaam which would be a pity since it would cause huge ecological changes to the area and almost certainly disrupt the fauna and flora around the river.  At the moment these plans have been shelved but there is always the danger that they could be put into development again.

Sundown is always special in Africa, marking the end of a long, hot and busy day and a great way to enjoy the sunset is with a long cool drink in your hand and a beautiful view with friends to enjoy.  Some of the sunsets I've seen have been spectacular and this one in Selous ranks right up there.
 

All too soon it is time to get back to the office and civilization (of sorts!) and we boarded our plane back to Dar.  As we flew out I got this amazing view over the Rufiji river and it was a fittingly spectacular end to a wonderful stay.