Sand Rivers Selous is a haven of natural luxury, a small, peaceful yet vibrant safari hub within the vast Selous wilderness, with high standards of hospitality and a wide variety of things to do. Stunningly situated on a wide curve of the Rufiji River, it has been designed in an expansive open style to take advantage of the wild setting and extensive views. The eight grand open-fronted guest cottages are constructed from local wood and stone, each with large en-suite bathrooms and running hot and cold water. There is an imposing mess and lounge area, and swimming pool set on the banks of the river, and the service and dining (both private and communal) is excellent.

Sand Rivers Selous is set in one of the most beautiful and scenically diverse parts of the Selous, where habitat ranges from gorges to open-plains, swamps, sand banks & lakes, so walks and games drives are filled with discovery. The fishing is great, made all the more exciting by the legendary fighting Tiger Fish. Overnight fly camping is a speciality at Sand Rivers, offering an opportunity to experience a night 'out in the open', in especially adapted mosquito nets under the night sky.

The sight and sound of the river; the great variety of adventures, from the riverside to the deeper woodland. Resident pack of wild dog often seen on game drives and walks. Good leopard and lion in the early mornings. The constant river residents– hippo and crocodile- and fabulous birds.

Open : 15th May to 15th March

8 double cottages all built from stone and thatch, they are cool and shaded and raised on wooden platforms. The front of each cottage is open and veranda style with wonderful views across the wide Rufiji River and its sand banks and hippos. En suite with flush toilets. Powerful showers with hot water available in the evenings.

Drawing in to the turnaround, the area immediate to the lodge is surrounded by a low stone wall, designed to keep the hippo out of the lounge and especially out of the swimming pool (it has happened before now and it is quite an undertaking to get them out again).

The main part of the lodge comprises a large stone and thatch building, open-sided and with terraces running out and along the top of the river bank, providing stunning views across the river, especially at sunset.

The interior is split level, with the upper half housing two lounge areas and the help-yourself bar. On the lower level are the dining areas, running out to a lounging terrace and the swimming pool beyond. The interiors are well-designed, comfortably and stylishly furnished.

All rooms can be made up as twins or doubles. The best rooms are 5 & 6 because of their superior views, whilst rooms 3 & 4 and 7 & 8 have connecting balconies, which is good for groups of four but is not a compromise to privacy.

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As we said at the outset, this lodge is serious about its game-viewing. This might seem a strange point to continually emphasise, but it is surprising how many safari camps in Tanzania are not. Here you can expect an intelligent level of expert-led game experiences, in Landrovers, boats and on foot.

The vehicles, as you can see, are properly converted open Landrovers, with windscreens removed. This is always a good sign. Game drives are usually early morning, when there is a good chance that the cats are still active and the elephant are at water. Sometimes you might end up at a bush breakfast and maybe take the boat back into camp, other days you night go out all day with a picnic lunch.

Boat safaris are probably the activity for which the Selous is best known. All year round the riverine game including hippo and crocodile are present, as well as a host of bird life, notably bee-eaters who burrow their nests into the banks and a number of different kingfishers. In the dry season particularly there is a very good chance of seeing a range of other game at the water's edge, especially elephant, giraffe and zebra ... even lion and leopard.

Sand Rivers is the only camp within sensible striking distance of Steigler's Gorge, where the broad Rufiji squeezes through a narrow channel. This is not a massively impressive gorge in geological terms, but as the banks close in on either side, the chances of a real close-up encounter increase, especially with elephant.

There is also excellent fishing available here. Catches include false tigers, huge catfish and barbels ... all renowned as good fighters.

Last time in camp, we were lucky enough to have a surprise guest for dinner ... a mature female elephant, who had chosen to come and browse the vegetation around the main mess building. Because the building is constructed of sturdy stone walls, it was safe enough to approach to distances usually unattainable with a wild elephant and at one stage the tip of her trunk must have been just a metre or so away from us as she sniffed through the window, her face filling the whole of the frame. This is the kind of intense sighting that you can only hope for, but which seems to happen a lot more often at camps like this which work hard on their game (not that she was encouraged in this, quite the opposite in fact).

Sand Rivers has long been known for its excellent fly-camping, where guests staying at the lodge can walk off into the bush with their guide to a temporary camp set up in a remote location for a night around the campfire.

In response to the success of this camping, the lodge has recently initiated a more extended version of this fly-camping by offering four and five day walking safaris, passing through several of the reserve's different eco-systems, camping in a different location each night. The cost of these fly-camping nights is the same as staying in the lodge.