East African Game Safaris in Tanzania
Lions - Rhino - Elephants - Cats - Zebra - Giraffe
Safari Trips
from 3 to 24 days

The Selous Game Sanctuary is one of the splendors of Africa. It is the largest such reserve on the continent. It is 21,000 square miles (about the size of West Virigina) of the wildest land left in Africa. There are only a few lodges in the Selous and these are situated on the Rufiji River (generally the northern portion of the Selous) where you may watch hippos and elephants from your veranda. This is probably the best viewing area for hippos in all of Tanzania. The best viewing is riding one of the expedition boats along the river where you see the hippos up close, along with the crocodiles and lots of other animals coming down to the water.

Visiting the Selous, which is in the southern portion of our country, can be planned two ways. You can fly down to Dar es Salaam when you arrive in Tanzania where we will meet you. You spend your first night in a hotel in the city and then head out the next morning in our Rovers for an interesting drive down to the Selous through a variety of local villages. We recommend that you stay in a permanent tented camp while you are visiting the Selous.

A little bit of history on the Selous

It is named after Col Selous who was the commander of a unit of Scouts that were chasing poachers many years ago. He was killed with a single shot from a sniper, and his grave may be visited while you are in the area.

The southern portion of the Selous is carefully managed for hunting parties. Big game licenses are very expensive and the income from the hunters covers most of the budget of the Department of Natural Resources for all of Tanzania. The department manages the hunting carefully and only allows a limited number of big game animals to be taken each year. The hunting area is far away from the northern area where visitors come for photography safaris.

Visiting the Selous is impacted by the rainy seasons so we plan our trips to that area very carefully.

You need at least 3 days of game drives to do the Selous justice. In addition to your drives in our Rovers you have the unusual opportunity to take a walking safari with armed naturalists, or a boat expedition along the river. Walking safaris are not allowed elsewhere in our country in our main game parks.

After your Selous visit you can either continue by Rover and drive north to the Mikume and the Ruaha, or opt to fly north to the Serengeti or back to Arusha.

Your other option for visiting the Selous is to fly down from Arusha or from the Serengeti.

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