Nyerere (Selous) National Park

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.

Dreamy Escape into the bush

We participated in a three day safari at Selous, organized by Kanuth Adventure Safaris. Kanuth Staff picked up us from our hotel, they were kind, helpful, appreciative of our business and fair priced. The drive from the city to the park was beautiful and exciting, an adventure in itself. We stayed at Hippo Camp, which was a lovely camp, just outside the park gates. We stayed in a lovely tree house right on the rufiji river, it was much like "glamping". The park was extraordinary. It was remote and beautiful. It was rainy while we were there, but honestly the experience was so dreamy, it wasn't too upsetting. We chose Selous over the Northern circuit because we were looking for something a bit off the beaten track. We wanted to immerse ourselves in vastness of the land, away from "tourists". We knew there was a risk in doing so, as we heard the wildlife sightings were less of a guarantee at Selous. But we were very lucky. Our guide was wonderful. We spent all day driving around the park, seeing everything we could have hoped to see. The only other humans we saw were the two other jeeps we entered the park with, from our camp. It was truly lovely. I highly recommend this park. One thing I might say when booking a package-- we were sold a boat safari, jeep safari and "walking safari". The walking safari, was a bush walk that took place outside of the park. While it was lovely, we felt mislead. There were some travelers who received an actual walking safari inside the park. Just be sure to receive clarification on this. Other than that piece everything was a dream. Cheers.

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.

Wonderful place, amazing landscapes and wildlife, few tourists

Wildlife so great in a natural environment, no habitation except a few ecolodges and rangers. Ecolodge wonderful, without fences, animals passing by day and night, food simple but good, meals taken on a big table with everyone in the lodge, very nice guides well trained speaking english very well and sometimes even french !
Great differences in environment, between the lakes, hills, bush, hotsprings, forest...

Awesome experience that everyone has to try at least once in their lifetime

We chose Tanzania as the destination of our honeymoon. My wife was quite reluctant with the choice, but she forgot every fear as soon as we got there.
Sells Game Reserve is a great destination for those that want to run from the crowds, usually seen in the north of Tanzania and south of Kenya. In this areas, the landscape seems a lot more spectacular, ant that's why I just give 4 stars to the Selous Game Reserve. But I can swear that the landscape in Selous, is just awesome.
The best thing in Selous Game Reserve is the exclusive feeling of the experience as you see very little people while still being able to finde a big diversity of fauna and flora.
We stayed in Siwandu and we can just say good things about it. Friendly people with a nice service and an awesome cuisine. The tents are very luxurious and it is awesome to wake up and watch the wildlife just at your door.

See it by yourself here: https://youtu.be/tX-cdXK1kCY

Larger than anything. Wildlife is usually har to find and weather can be tricky, really hot and humid. But this place is for the turists who want to meet the real wild Africa. I´m really glad to have been there before it gets too crowded like the other parks.

One of the most interesting wildlife experience

In a previous travel, my wife and I have visited other parks in Tanzania (see below). We had great time watching the wildlife. That was our honeymoon travel (yes, we love wildlife !)
So, we had the wish to come back to Tanzania to see the wildlife again. As we stayed on one of the Zanzibar islands, we decided to take a short tour at the Selous Game Reserve. We choose this park because there is not so much tourists. We wanted a park where we could feel almost alone, in communion with nature and wildlife.
We were absolutely seduced by the park. It is really big, has some roads but is clearly saved to be a wild area where animals and birds can leave in the wild.
We have also appreciated a lot to have both car safari and boat safari in the same area. That was the first time we made a boat safari, close to hippos and elephants.
We spent one night in a tented camp. This is a really exciting experience. Maasai people were there to help us make our way between our tent and the lobby because wild animals move freely. That is fun.

Interesting reserve to see if you have been to other traditional reserves.

For us Selous Game Reserve had two major advantages compared to other more popular reserves: Less tourists and different landscape. Unfortunately we went there in january, so the animal life was a bit poor at that time. But that was okey, since we saw most of the animals we wanted to see, but not so many of each kind. For example, we saw three lions, not thirty.
The walking safari was very interesting, too, and we had a really good guide.