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Selous is awesome. You can drive off the road. During a safari day you bump into all vehicles in Selous. That is about 10 4x4's. Make sure you have an awesome driver / guide / tracker. We had the best, tracking down leopard trails as he drove. Few vast plains, more shrub and dense (and dry) vegetation and some lakes. Wildlife is not so much habituated to humans as in other parks. Selous makes Ngorongoro your local European drive through safari zoo. You really track down animals for a true bush vibe and wildlife experience. Unique wildlife as well: wild dogs. Lucky enough to see a rare event in Selous: a leopard with young walking around closeby. Less wildlife density you will observer, but compensated by the awesome experience and unique events.
bigbluemarbleuk
GB
Visited:
November 2009
Reviewed: Jul 12, 2011
Email bigbluemarbleuk | 35-50 years of age
African Wilderness At Its Best
I stayed at the Rufiji River Camp which is one of the smaller camps in Selous. The proximity to the river meant we had the opportunity for a river safari and a walking safari as well as the traditional trips out on a 4x4.
Selous is wonderfully remote and we hardly saw another vehicle which in my opinion is the best way to experience a safari. The guides were good and spotted a lot of wildlife we may well have missed. The number of lakes meant there was always the chance to see wildlife and birdlife around there. We didn't see all the Big 5 but there were no rhino in the area where we stayed.
I loved my short stay in Tanzania and I will be going back.
brookeyoga
Selous Game Reserve is one of Africa's best kept secrets. It is exspansive, pristine and breathtakin
Selous being the size of Switzerland is populated with no more than 170 people, we felt we were right in the heart of Africa, we felt privileged to experience the vastness of this untouched land.
Everything we experienced in Selous was second to none.
Completely different to the northern parks of Tanzania
Selous isnt a National Park like the famous Serengeti with all the almost tame animals, therefore its kind of boring or even un-expected in the beginning when you see shy Zebras or Giraffes running away from Safari visitiors even when they are fare away (like 100m and more). But then, you'll end up with a more natural feeling - it's interesting to see big groups of Giraffes running scared ... but the thing I liked at most was that in the Selous you can stop the car, get out, have a walk, picnic or whatever. The drivers go whereever the car is able to go through the bush - and that makes the experience, because you're much closer to animals like Elephants or even the Wild Dogs. In general its not really touristy, so everything feels more like an expected bush adventure. Ah, and for me the flight in small plane was an "adventure" as well. So i'll recommend the Selous (afterwards) in combination with e.g. the Serengeti.
real wild Africa
I went to Selous with my wife in March when the rain season was about to begin:the scenery was amazing and very different because of the green of the grass and the leaves on the tree.The rain wasn't a real problem for the safari and not too frequent.
We stayed in the Lake Manze tented camp, a little but comfortable camp fully immerged in the wild: elephants, ippos and buffalos wondered through the camp during the day and the night.The wildlife and the birding are really great in Selous: you can see hundreds of animals everywhere (there was even a Puff Adder within the camp). In conclusion I can recommend the Selous to everyone who loves Africa and wildlife.
Selous is amazing and remote place - highly recommend a visit.
We went there 4 of us in a group and stayed in a nice lodge run by a half- Tanzanian man and his wife. They were excellent hosts and we enjoyed staying in a mud hut , and experience we never had before.
In Selous we saw an abundance of wildlife, an elephant family and a great bunch of lions (we counted them up to 13!!!) and other beautiful grazing animals.
I will never forget my time in Selous as everything I saw before on NatGeo just suddenly came to life there.
not as many animals but wonderfully relaxed and lovely area
Absolutely wild. One of the few park in Africa for wild dogs sighting. Astonishing landscape and beautiful lakes! the only negative point: is expensive and a guide is needeed because the road are not indicated. Without an expert guide you get lost 100%!
squishsquish
Visited:
August 2009
Reviewed: Sep 9, 2011
The Selous was great-less touristy than other reserves, with just a focus on seeing amazing animals
We really liked our safari in the Selous Reserve - we were able to enjoy both river boat and traditional jeep safaris. It was great that everything was so open and natural - we had elephants wondering past our tent every night and even had a cheeky monkey attempt to join us for breakfast. The reserve has a lot less people than others - some days we didn't see anybody else except our driver.
aserlemitsos
US
Visited:
March 2011
Reviewed: Sep 19, 2011
Email aserlemitsos | under20 years of age
An all-around African experience.
Landing on a dirt airstrip is a great way to land into this beautiful reserve. Immediately you are greeted by your personal guide, who takes you first thing on a game drive to your lodge, or in my case, the Manze Lake Camp. My experience went as follows: we told our guide that we wanted to see wild dogs. 20 minutes later, they were there laying in front of us. The lodge itself was excellent, you have a personal chalet, the food was served family style and tasted great. The next day we told our tour guide that we wanted to see mating lions. Again, 10 minutes later, they were there in front of us. This whole idea of seeing anything you want, sums up Selous Game Reserve. It is a magical place with great wildlife, food, and hospitality. If I could suggest one thing, it would be to go in the month of june, july, august, when it is colder there, any other time is very hot.
