Selous Game Reserve

Experience the Tanzanian southern wilderness in Selous Game Reserve. Less than an hour by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam, remote and wild, Selous offers a variety of exclusive and professionally run Safari options; by foot, boat or vehicle.  

The Selous Game Reserve is Africas biggest protected wildlife area that extends to within 150km of Mozambique. This is the highlight of Tanzanias Southern Safari Circuit.  The Rufiji River flows through the reserve attracting great herds of Tanzania elephant and allows the visitor to experience the reserve by boat.

The reserve has the largest number of elephants out of all the reserved wildlife areas in the country.  The park offers a variety of environments; hot volcanic springs, dense thickets and open wooded grasslands.  This diversity is also home a broad range of game: buffalo, gnu; hartebeest; Greater Kudu; sable antelope; warthog; zebras; giraffe; and wildebeest. Also: lion, hippo, spotted hyena and black rhino.  hunting dog; rhino and cheetah are sometimes seen.  In addition, there are over 350 species of bird and reptiles such as crocodiles and various snakes and lizards.

Walking is permitted (with an armed ranger) in this Game Reserve.  Selous is one of the more exclusive areas in Tanzania.  Its size and location afford privacy and seclusion from the masses of tourists associated with the more well known parks such as Ngorongroro and Serengeti.

The dry season (Jun-Nov) is the best time for game viewing. The rainy season (Jan-Apr) provides ample bird viewing; however many of the roads are impassable after heavy rainfall. Lodges close between March and May.

Reference: Tanzanian Tourist Board