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Jumbokedama
JP
Visited:
August 2016
Reviewed: Dec 8, 2016
Email Jumbokedama | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
I think this has been my favorite park so far. Hellish drive on a loooong, bumpy dirt road in order to get there, but the place is remote and there are few visitors. One can see a very wide variety of wildlife, including birds.
Richard Kingsbury
GB
Visited:
July 2016
Reviewed: Oct 29, 2016
Email Richard Kingsbury | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great family safari including big 5 and river safari
For us it was the opportunity to do a river safari that attracted us to the Selous and our trip up the Rufiji River was a nice change from game drives. The game drives were also excellent with very few other vehicles on the road and they are allowed to go off road which is great fun and allows you to get close to the wildlife. This is not allowed at some other parks. We were lucky to see elephants, lions, hippos and a leopard. There are some spectacular birds too. We stayed at the Serena Selous Camp which we would recommend. Accommodation is in luxury tents and there is a spectacular bar/restaurant/deck which overlooks a watering hole that hippos frequent. The service was attentive but unaffected and the staff even let our boys join in their daily football match. The food was excellent and we had no side effects. Another unexpected bonus of the Selous is that there are no mosquitoes which is one less thing to worry about. The weather was pleasant and not too hot in the last week of August.
DaveGibsonImages.com
My visit occurred at the end of January when the temperatures reached 98 degrees. The shaded pool at Rufiji River Camp was a welcome respite from the heat as was the cooling breeze created by our safari vehicle. Vervet monkeys rule the camp. Pay respect to the alpha male with the blue scrotum! The best predator viewing is in the Lake Manze area where I spotted a hyena with a fresh wildebeest leg in its jaws. Birding is excellent and crocs are everywhere. One person in camp saw a crocodile take down a buffalo!
david
GB
Visited:
June 2016
Reviewed: Oct 18, 2016
Email david | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Selous and Tanzania
The Selous is the Largest Game reserve in all of Africa, named after the great explorer Frederik Courtney Selous, who is incidentally, buried in the park at a grave site that can be visited by guests in the reserve.
The Photographic area of the Selous is in the northern part of the park, spanning about 3000sq km. The area is mostly flat and steady at about 50-60m above sea level. This means that the Rufiji River which runs through the park is slow and wide, producing a constant water source, which is great for wildlife! The park is located in the southern Safari circuit of Tanzania which is much less visited by tourists, which means no crowds and a much more authentic and pleasant experience.
Game is plentiful in the Selous. The climate and miombo style woodland isn't suited to some, but all the
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main players are here in abundance. Most noteworthy however is that the Selous is home to the largest population of wild dogs, by a long way, in the world. Sightings are recorded every single season of these beautiful animals, and the best times to see them are just after the rains in november/december. Dens get flooded with water which makes the animals move.The Selous is also the best place to experience boat Safaris and see the wildlife that lives in and around the River. For keen birders this is an experience not to be missed.
I stayed at Selous Impala Camp, www.selousimpalacamp.com . The camp is rated the best in selous by trip advisor, and is said to have the best guiding of anywhere in the Selous. If you have a more conservative budget then you could stay at Lake Manze camp which is also excellent. In truth it doesn't really matter where you stay as long as you stay inside the reserve, but every time I go to the park I stay in one of these two properties. If I'm feeling adventurous then I will stay with Authentic Tanzania Safaris www.authentictanzaniasafaris.com where I can tailor make my own Safaris, staying in a mobile camp.
Be wary of any camps outside of the reserve. They may appear cheaper but a large portion of the cost will become apparent upon entering the park in the way of park fees, and they are no where near the same experience. They are located close to a village which scares away a lot of the animals, and destroys a bit of the ambiance of being in the bush. The game drives follow the same route every day for the first hour which is frustrating as you need to drive quite a long way before you get to the best areas.
Aside from all the animals and the incredible Natural beauty, the Selous is wonderful because it offers such a large variety of Safari activities. You can game drive for a full or half day, Walk, Boat or fly camp in the Selous. This means you are always doing something new and exciting and get the most out of your time in the Selous.
Tanzania is king of Safari destinations, and the Selous is a magnificent jewel in its crown, I cant recommend it enough to anyone who is interested in going on Safari. Here is a link to some of the pictures from my trip to Selous and Ruaha on flickr https://flic.kr/s/aHskHCg42o
Tamsyn Munnik
ZA
Visited:
September 2016
Reviewed: Oct 17, 2016
Email Tamsyn Munnik | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Gorgeous scenery, great wildlife, and uncrowded areas!
We stayed at the Hippo Camp which was a short 15 minute drive from the entrance to the Selous Game Reserve, making it a nice base for our safari trips.
Selous Game Reserve is an untouched wilderness giving you the sense of being in "real Africa", and in my opinion, was the most beautiful reserve in the southern circuit of Tanzania, with it's gorgeous grassy plains, lush tropical areas, acacia woodlands, and the meandering Rufiji River that runs through the reserve.
Selous Game Reserve is such a vast area, so we sometimes spent hours driving around looking for the animals. While the wildlife population density isn't as high as it is in northern Tanzania, we still saw loads of animals including lions, elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, impala,
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hartebeest, greater kudu, zebras, buffalos, warthogs, hippos and crocodiles. Unfortunately we weren't lucky enough to see any leopards, rhinos or wild dogs during our safaris, but it gives me an excuse to go back there one day. Our guide, Rajab, from Wildness Safari, was incredibly knowledgeable and informative during our safari tour, and I honestly think we would have missed out on so much had we opted to do a self-drive safari instead. His guiding skills were invaluable during the entire trip, and it felt like we had our own personal guidebook with us.One of the drawcards of Selous Game Reserve was the fact that it wasn't very crowded, and it often felt like we were the only ones in the reserve as we could drive for hours without seeing another vehicle. This provided us with a great opportunity for unlimited viewing times with the wildlife.
I would definitely recommend booking a boat cruise along the Rufiji River and a walking safari tour while in Selous if you have the time, as this was a highlight of the trip for me.
I highly recommend a trip to Selous Game Reserve during your time in Tanzania!
Xavier
CH
Visited:
January 2016
Reviewed: Aug 27, 2016
Email Xavier | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Xavier
CH
Visited:
August 2016
Reviewed: Aug 27, 2016
Email Xavier | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Same as Ruaha, a different feel compare, not as crowded, as the Northern National Parks!
The real wildness
comparing with other parks, Selous is the best choice if you like to spend your time like a local, not like a tourist. It is now guarantee that you can see all wild animals, because the park is not designed for tourists. It is really really natural wild life and you find your self in the middle of jungle !
Ali Sinai
AE
Visited:
June 2016
Reviewed: Jul 4, 2016
Email Ali Sinai | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Unbelievable Place
Although this was my wife and I's first safari, we had both done a little research and what we both wanted was a game reserve that gave us a healthy chance of seeing amazing wildlife without being in such a touristic hub that the "magic" of being in the wild was diminished in any way. We were not disappointed! Selous is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited, and everything from the great Rufiji river to the other bodies of water, mountains and vast open spaces were breathtaking. We hardly saw any other tourists there which was actually a great thing when we saw lions and elephants and similar animals as we really got to enjoy the serenity of being a few meters away from these majestic creatures with nothing except ourselves and our guide within miles.
Our hotel was absolutely outstanding - Serena Mivumo. It's a lodge that overlooks the Rufiji river and is nothing short of exceptional. Amazing staff, luxurious bungalows and just generally great food and service. Highly recommended.
Sergej Osipov
ES
Visited:
November 2015
Reviewed: Apr 18, 2016
Email Sergej Osipov | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Splendid and variable scenery with great wildlife encounters
Altogether, we have spent around 3 weeks in Tanzania. After arrival to Dar Es-Salam, we have rented the cars and headed directly to Selous Game Reserve that took us around 6 hours to get. We have spent the night just outside the park in a beautiful lodge just next to the river. We have brought all the equipment like kitchen and sleeping tents with us, so we could sleep in the camps inside the park and be able to prepare the food. It was the beginning of November and spring was coming, it was quite hot already but we thought it would be perfect timing to go to Safari destinations. With the first rays of light, we have entered Selous Game Reserve Park, as we were planning to spend the night at the campsite inside the park, we had to bring a guide with us, and he was very friendly and with a lot of knowledge about the wildlife. He had spent the night with us in the camp, during the daytime we have done a few walks, and game drives. Almost for 3 days, we were driving around the park, which has a big variety of sceneries and as a consequence a lot of different wildlife.
