Selous Game Reserve

The Selous Game Reserve is a unique and unusual safari environment; a vast, thriving wildlife area of forests and woodlands around the lagoons, sandbanks and lakes of the Rufiji River.

Bigger than Switzerland and four times the size of the Serengeti, the 50 000km2 wilderness area is the most alluring safari prospect on the African continent; it’s Africa’s Big Secret, and seen as the next top destination for those in the mood for a bit of an adventure.

With its diversity of game and scenery the Selous is an area that naturally appeals to a photographic lens, as the waterways and plains reflect the changing colours of the sun.

Selous: Wildlife
It’s a big park full of big game: the reserve - and proclaimed world heritage site - protects phenomenally large mammal populations. The Selous wildlife is all the more interesting because it attracts both East and Southern African wildlife, both resident and migratory, and over 440 known species of birds. These include upward of 100 000 buffalo, 40 000 hippo, 150 000 wildebeest, 5 000 zebra and 50 000 impala. The local giraffe population is so large that Selous has been nicknamed Giraffic Park.

The waterways of the Rufiji River Delta attract elephant herds, and are packed full of grunting hippopotami and yawning crocodile that lumber into the water at the first sound of a boat.

The banks attract large herds of plains game depending on the season, dispersing after the rains and regrouping when the water sources concentrate. To get a good idea of a safari experience in the Selous, click to view our Selous video.

Selous Safaris: Walking, Boating, & Camping
The conservation area allows walking and boating safaris, unlike any National Parks, and guiding standards are high. Many camps will arrange fantastic fly-camping nights in the bush, bookable in advance.

Selous: The Reserve
Covering almost 50,000 square km, the Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest areas set aside for wildlife preservation anywhere in the world. It accounts for 5% of the land mass of Tanzania, and yet all options for tourists are high quality, low-impact lodges that provide a high standard of accommodation.

Selous: Scenery
Selous scenery is widely varied, with unusually green grasses and tangles of vegetation. The river routes are characterised by legions of tall Borassus Palms along the banks that grow up to 25m tall, and leave a tall headless totem when the water courses move to leave them high and dry. The Selous conserves a surprisingly colourful African landscape, with white leadwood trunks in stark contrast to the surrounding vibrancy of well-watered greens and a ranging palette of sandy terracottas.