Selous Game Reserve: Tanzania

The Selous game reserve is massive; roughly the same size as Belgium; this Park is huge and wild. It has much to offer and although it has been rarely visited in the past in recent years visitors to Tanzania have begun to realize this park has much to offer the tourist looking for the remote wilderness experience. The Selous was plagued in late 1970’s and 1980’s by poaching; it is thought the populations of Elephants fell from 110,000 to 30,000 in twenty years.

The northern section of the park is where a handful of luxury camps are found. This area has three major habitats; riverine thickets where elephants, hippo, antelope and crocodiles will be found; open grassland where wildebeest, zebra, lion and wildogs are found; the miombo woodlands on the mountain ridges around Beho Beho [a new camp has just opened here] and Stieglers Gorge are home to Kudu and Roosevelt’s sable. A great deal of this area northern Selous is set aside for photographic safaris.

Rhino, was once common in the are but were almost poached into extinction but numbers are now beginning to recover. Lake Tagalala is one of the main attractions to this area with its many species of grassland and water bird. The hot springs are another lure and is a nice place for a picnic and a swim in the hot waters.

To the South is the Rufiji River; where luxury camps cater for tourists offering game safaris at sunset cruisers along this majestic river through pools of wallowing hippo and crocodiles basking on the banks of the river.

To venture into the almost trackless south of the Rufiji River; to the network of tributaries and oxbow lakes is truly wild. Visitors must be fully self sufficient to venture in to this part of the Selous. It is only the north of this park that is developed in any way for tourists.

The Selous is recommended for a truly out of Africa experience; the camps here are luxurious although a little expensive. However, the added expense is worth it to experience this African wilderness.

The site http://www.tanzania-info.co.uk has full details of National Parks and timetables for Zanzibar Ferries, flights and Buses in Tanzania – and http://www.betheladventure.co.uk has safari information. Use responsible tourism to make a difference to the countries and peoples you visit.

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