Selous Safari Camp

Only 200 km West of Dar es Salaam lies the mighty Selous Game Reserve, one of Africa’s least known yet wildest conservation areas. At an unbelievable 55,000 sq km Selous is almost twice the size of Belgium and four times larger than the famous Serengeti in the North, covering 5% of Tanzania’s land area. The Selous’ ecosystem as a whole is made up of a few conservation areas, namely Mikumi in the North and the Kilombero game controlled area in the West, covering in total over 90,000 sq km of pristine wilderness devoid of human influence.

Fed by the mighty Rufiji River, the largest river in East Africa which drains most of South Western Tanzania’s water, this reserve is home to over 1,000,000 large animals and is home to over half of Tanzania’s elephant population. Selous is unique among reserves in Tanzania as it encompasses an area exclusively devoted to tourism in its Northern part, making up for about 10% of the reserve’s total size.

This sector North of the Rufiji River is mostly open wooded grassland and is dominated by Terminalia spinosa trees - ‘flat topped’ trees, in classic African fashion. However this section of the reserve is unusually diverse, comprising dense hardwood forests in the East, open plains in the centre, and rocky arid hills and volcanic springs in the West.

The reserve is also crisscrossed by a multitude of dry riverbeds surrounded by dense riverine vegetation where many of Selous larger animals spend their days.

However, one of the major attractions has to be the mighty river itself, home to one of the largest crocodile and hippo populations in Africa, swarming with fish which in turn bring about some of the world’s best water birding. The River has also formed several large lakes on its Northern bank, navigable by boat. The Selous Safari Camp is situated on one of these lakes, sheltered in a grove of one of Selous’ many beautiful palm forests.
This wonderfully diverse, vast and well watered habitat has the right ingredients to enable the land to hold an unusually high number of animals of all shapes and sizes as well as support an extraordinary array of different vegetation types.

Selous has over 2,100 species of plants, 350 species of birds, 60,000 elephant, 108,000 buffalos and an estimated 1,300 of the worlds’ approximately 4,000 remaining rare wild dogs giving guests an opportunity to glimpse all of these exotic animals in true unspoilt wilderness.

Accommodation

The Selous Safari Camp is delightfully situated within an open palm forest on the shores of Lake Nzerakera, a massive lake adjoining the Great Rufiji River. Blending in superbly with its natural surroundings in what is one of the most photogenic areas of the Selous Game Reserve. All safari tents are widely spaced along the lake shore ensuring maximum privacy and wonderful views. Each tent sits atop its own raised timber platform with two large verandahs on either side where one can sit with a cup of tea in the morning watching the bush come to life at sunrise, or nursing a gin and tonic as the bush gets ready for the night at sunset.

Much as guests are encouraged to become at one with the bush surroundings, full consideration has been given to comfort within the camp itself. The spacious tents are luxuriously appointed, with en suite bathrooms and open air hot water showers. Ceiling fans are present in all the rooms situated above the king sizes beds where guests can rest away the exertions of the morning activity and cool down during the heat of the day before heading out again later.

The camp as a whole is comprised of two separate camps, North and South. North camp possessing 6 tents and South camp with 7 tents. In this way, there is never the feeling of having too many people around and each camp can provide a high level of seclusion enabling guests to become familiar with all their fellow travellers as well as the staff. Each section has its own swimming pool, well stocked bar and dining area, and each has its own well supplied kitchen where our chefs produce the finest cuisine. All meals are complimented by a good wine selection. No movement between camps is required as each has its own host, game viewing vehicles, jetty for boat safaris and walking guides.

Activities

While our guests find that game viewing and communing with nature can readily be achieved without moving from the camp itself, we offer full opportunities to get out into the bush to explore more of the Selous Game Reserve, its intriguing topography, its fascinating flora and its teeming wildlife.

Selous Safari Camp offers an exceptionally large array of activities to choose from be it by boat, vehicle or foot, your guides will personally taylor all activities to suit the guest so that they get the most out of the Reserve in the time they have available. All Selous activities generally go out after breakfast, quite different to other places due to the topography of the land and the animals dependance on drinking water. The main game movements in Selous occur a little later in the day as most animals make their way down to the lakes to drink only after the sun has come up, before this time most of the animals are far inland where there is little road networks for driving. In this way our guests can relax and after a nice leisurly breakfast embark on a drive or boat with a full stomach and then can stay out in the reserve all the way until lunch. After some more food and a small siesta, guests can then go out again in the late afternoon from about 16h00 when animals generally come back to life again providing more interesting game viewing. All activities must return to camp after sunset for about 19h00 as this is the rule of the park. Night Drives are not allowed in Selous.