Selous Game Reserve

Selous is largest game reserve in whole Africa, one of the most favorite game viewing areas of the continent. Covering 48,000-sq-km, the reserve is amongst the largest protected areas of Africa, a vast wilderness nested in the heart of southern Tanzania.

Selous is a splendid safari destination for both families and honeymooners, all because it is easy to get there and there is no crowds, like in the busy Northern circuit. The reserve contains the widest diversity of safari activities in the country, ranging from boating safaris to the standard game drives, walking safaris and legendary fly camping trips.

The Northern part of Selous is home to a maze of channels and lagoons that run off the Rufiji River. This abundant landscape is a water source for the Selous residents, and towards the end of the dry season the concentration of animals around is spectacular.

More than 440 bird species can be found in the Selous. On the lakes you can spot pink-backed pelicans, African skimmers and giant kingfishers, while the sandbanks are home to carmine and white-fronted bee eater colonies. Fish eagle couples, palmnut vulture, ibises and palm swifts all nest in the borassus palms, and other water birds include yellow-billed stork, white-crowned and spur-winged plovers, various small waders, pied and malachite kingfishers.

Game drives are offered usually in the cool early morning and again as the sun sets in the evenings, when you’re most likely to see the Big Five, a vast number of antelope species, giraffe, zebra, warthog, African wild dogs and plenty more! At midday, when the sun is high, both humans and animals retreat into the shade for a rest.

Walking safaris are also common activity in Selous, allowing you to intimately experience African bush with its animals, birds and insects, as much as is physically possible. There is nothing more unique that the loud silence of the bush with its bird calls, insect chitter and the occasional roar of a lion.