Nyerere (Selous) National Park

A Photographic Route to Game Park.

Selous is one of the largest game park of the world covering more than 54,000 Sq Kms, most of the park is reserved for Gaming ( I seriously hate that) and another large area from Mtemere Gate near Mloka village is reserved for photographic tour. Reaching the park by road is around 245 kms from Dar Es Salam Tanzania and by Air 30 mins to some specific camps.
Since its game park unlike national park animals can be seen very close and the animals does not have any boundary. I went to Selous twice September and again in October. From the entrance gate after we drove in side open safari cars and after 15 mins of drive was mesmerized by collection and density of the animals and variety of birds. Interesting part of Selous is after each 5 or 6 kms the topography changes sometimes is plain near the lake , other time red soil with white thorn bushes and again green large tree with paddy roads. I saw over all 34 lions with 4 different prides, was lucky to be watching them eating fresh hunt . Driver normally drive very close to them effectively a 300mm lens is sufficient enough to click lions, apart from lions giraffe, kudus, water buck, heartbeast, wilderbeast, different kinds of eagles, bee eaters etc was in plenty. Night can bit scary as starting from lion to hippo all was roaming near our camp. Some of the camps are too much luxury some are moderate but most of them are built on the bank of Rufiji River, hence morning walk near the boundary you will be able to see animals and birds easily. Most of the resorts switchoff the lights are 10 AM and is left with battery backups. Overall the best part of Selous are 1. Close proximity with animals, 2. Huge Collection of Animals. 3. Shoot as you like means you can even get down at a distance from the car and take worm height shot of an elephant 4. Support from the guides to take a good shot. I would any day recommend anyone to join Selous.

The real thing, wild wildlife

We were 5 pers. going together on a gamedrive for one day arranged by "Along the River Camp". We were in an open LandRover from "Selous River Camp" with with an excelent driver and a trained guide. For me Selous is a fantastic place where You get very close to the wild nature without driving in a long row of cars. We met only two other cars this day so You really get the feeling of being in the middle of the wild-wild nature. I have been to the Reserve three times, and each time You a get different experience. This time we were fortunate to see the lions at close range and we surprised an elephant with a 3 days old baby, who tried to scare us off. Amazing. I believe Selous is the least spoiled game reserve, with fewer tourists than the renouned Serengeti, Ngorongoro but that is the essence of the visit. You only get to see a small part of one the worlds biggest nature reserves, but You are left with a very special feeling of being close to the real thing.

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.

One of the most amazing experiences of my life!

Safari in Selous Game Reserve was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It's hard to find the words to describe the feeling of being close to a lion or watch a hundred zebras and impalas crossing your path. The guide (unfortunately I forgot his name) was simply amazing and very knowledgeable. I was surprised how much animals have we spotted in just three days of safari as Selous is one of the largest remaining wilderness areas in Africa! Highly recommended to every nature and wildlife lover!

Wild and wonderful

This was the first park of our multi-day safari tour in southern Tanzania, and we enjoyed it tremendously. The first day we were treated to a boat tour near our accommodations at the Selous River Lodge, and we were able to see a great variety of birds (kingfishers, weavers, bee-eaters) as well as crocodiles (baby and adult) and hippos. At night, we could hear hippos grunting from our hut, and we saw at least two kinds of monkeys in the trees outside the hut. During the two days of driving in the reserve, we saw giraffes, buffalo, many birds, warthogs, impalas, water bucks, hippos, and so much more. We enjoyed some breakfast and lunch with our wonderful driver at relaxing spots in the park, and over the course of two days we saw very few people. It was just as wild and wonderful as we had dreamed, and we would go back in a heartbeat.

lovely landscape, many animals, quiet

Everything we expected, wished for, and more. So lovely and just about the animals and your experience.

Birds mostly go unnoticed because of big game. The birds are amazing here. There are no rhinos or cheetah.

The Selous Park is beautiful. And so many of our dibrtch memories from Tanzania. Afebxha was waiting for us by changing the number of employees in the contract. It was only after our intervention that she confessed to guilty and we received a compensation. The guide himself gave me that this job did not suit him and we were so tired with each other these few days.

We Saw Elephant , Lions (2 females 1 male) Giraffes , Zebra group, Gnu Group , hippopotamus , baby crocodile , The birds of pride, Gazelle, Monkey's,