Safari in the Selous Reserve (Nyerere Park)

The Selous Reserve, now part of Nyerere National Park, is the largest protected area in Africa and one of the major sanctuaries for Tanzania's big mammals. A round-trip flight lets you reach the heart of the park without wasting time on the road.

The flight leaves at twenty-five past seven and lands on an airstrip inside the reserve. The day unfolds across the plains and wooded areas bordering the Rufiji River: elephants in groups around the pools, giraffes under the acacias, herds of zebra, buffalo and hippos in the calm waters. Selous stands out for the variety of its landscapes, miombo, gallery forests, wet grasslands and channels of the Rufiji, which changes several times over the course of the day.

The safari in the Selous reserve comes in several formats, to match the time you have and what you are after.

A single day is given over entirely to exploring the reserve by 4x4. The two-day, one-night format adds a different second day: a safari cruise of about two hours on the river, then a visit to a Maasai village before heading back.

To spend more time watching wildlife, an extra afternoon can be added: the second day then becomes another full 4x4 session rather than the cruise and the village.