Rufiji River

All this time the river has been flowing through an area only inhabitat by plants, animals and birds, with the occasional tourists doing a boat safari.
As soon as the river leaves the Selous Game Reserve, the first village shows up on its banks, with fishing canoes and village farms. The Rufiji is free of swamps such as the Zambezi which prevent human appreciation of its waters from shore, and thus the Rufiji is also free from extensive mosquito breeding in this area, and many a village is prettily situated on his banks facing the river.

The river passes Utete, the starting point up river of larger canoes or boats, having travelled roughly half of its journey towards its delta from the Selous Game Reserve, and supporting grasslands, woodland, forests, swamps and thirteen other permanent lakes.
Finally it reaches its delta which is the home to the largest mangrove forest on the eastern coast of Africa- a massive 53,000 hectares.
In the delta is also the last resting place of the "Königsberg", a German Cruiser sunk there by the British during World War 1 after sustaining damage and trying to fight off a superior force of attackers, it has however sunk even deeper into the Rufiji sands & silt, obscuring it entirely from view. Also the "Somali´s" last resting place is in the delta, being a coal ship to the "Königsberg" and also being sunk there.

02/04/08