Nyerere (Selous) National Park

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.

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.

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!

Gorgeous scenery, great wildlife, and uncrowded areas!

My friend and I spent two weeks on a safari tour of southern Tanzania with Wildness Safari. Selous Game Reserve was the last stop on our itinerary and we spent a total of 4 days in the area.

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, 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!

Amazing, stunning same as Ruaha, a real feel of Africa

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 !

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.

A wonderfully natural safari experience

We stayed for 4 nights at Azura Selous and had the most incredible time. Selous itself is a vast reserve, so we were fully appreciative of the fact that it may take longer to discover animals and they may be a bit more 'jumpy' around the 4x4's than in other parks - the upside to this is the fact that the whole safari just felt a lot more natural, when we did discover animals (and there are still a lot of wildlife about) it was great to hardly have any other vehicles around (often none at all) and there was a greater buzz when you did find them.

The accommodation (Azura) was fantastic, and we genuinely could not fault any aspect of it. The food, especially considering the remote location, was absolutely incredible.

I would not hesitate to come back here at the earliest opportunity, and I do wonder if we did choose a different park/reserve just whether it would feel as good - or if in fact it might have a slight zoo feel to it in comparison.

If I had to pick one minor irritation it would be the pockets of Tsetse fly about - although appreciate there isn't an easy solution to this and to be perfectly honest it isn't the end of the world as you do get used to it - plus there was always a can of insect spray to hand in the vehicles if needed.

beautiful destination with breathtaking scenery

Selous Game reserve is a beautiful destination with amazing wildlife and breathtaking views. Quite bushy so you really have to look for the animals but the views and nature is just gorgeous, the Hippo camp is very basic accommodation but the staff are very hospitable and friendly. Food was served daily and was tasty and well cooked. Our ranger Emmenuel was so kind and friendly we really enjoyed spending time with him and would definitely like to do this safari again. The walking tour was very entertaining with the bush man and the river safari was so fun when we stopped to watch the sun set it was just beautiful.