Famous Selous Game Reserve 5 Days
Trip Summary:
This tour will take you to visit one of the world’s and Africa’s largest protected wildlife area, this pristine, the famous Selous which is larger than Switzerland in the southern circuit of Tanzania National parks. You will spend 4 nights exploring the area where you will see small and large mammals including variety of bird species and reptiles. Accommodation can be in luxury Tented camp or budget accommodation as per your requirements booked on full board arrangements FB.
You will enjoy and experience nature, wildlife, habit and habitat of the fauna and flora in the natural areas, also peoples and culture. Availability 90%
Minimum Rate Per Adult: US$
Departing From: Dar es Salaam
Duration: 5 Days / 4 Nights
Departure Time: 0830 Hrs (possible to leave earlier than)
Departures: Daily
Minimum Persons Required: 2
Best Time: All round the year
Trip Itinerary:
Day 1: Dar – Selous Game Reserve
- In the morning at 0830hrs pickup from your hotel in Dar or Dar Es Salaam airport and travel to Selous Game Reserve. You will have picnic lunch on the way and travel on to arrive in Selous in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight at Mbuyu safari Camp, RufiJi River Tented camp, Sandriver Tented Camp, Selous safari camp, Sable mountain lodge OR Budget Camp FB
Day 2: Full day in Selous G.R
- Breakfast in your accommodation followed by both morning and afternoon game drives in the reserve. Selous is a home to large population of elephant, big number of buffalo and wild dog. Other species commonly seen are lion, bushbuck, impala, giraffe, eland, baboon, zebra, Kudus and Crocodile. You will have all meals and overnight at the same camp FB
Day 3: Walking & Boat Excursion in Selous
- After breakfast launch a walking trip in the wilderness accompanied by an armed ranger guide to get close to the animals. You will have picnic lunch in the bush and there after lunch transfer to Rufiji for afternoon boat excursion on the Rufiji River sporting large floating bodies fog Hippos and or Crocs. Evening as the Sun goes down the drive will take you back to your accommodation for dinner experience and overnight FB.
Day 4: Sun rise and Sun set in Selous
- Wake up at 0600hrs for early morning game viewing and Sun rise in Selous game Reserve, at 0845hrs drive back to your accommodation for breakfast. After breakfast R & R, rest and relax at leisure in your accommodation waiting for lunch. Evening at 1600hrs proceed with game drives and enjoy the Sun set as it goes down, You will have all meals and overnight in your camp.
Day 5: Selous G.R – Dar es Salaam
- After breakfast, drive back to Dar es Salaam with picnic lunch on the way where you will arrive in Dar in the late afternoon.
Tour Price Includes:
- Flying Doctors Emergence
- Arrival and departure Airport Transfers
- All entrance fees.
- Full board accommodation on tour
- Service of an English speaking driver guide
- Transport based on excellent 4*4 Vehicle rebuilt for safari to
give nice game viewing
- Mileage is built in the price
- Driver's
Salary
and
allowances and park fees for vehicle and driver
- Game drives as per the Itinerary
-
Complementary bottle of water daily
- Complementary of printed Safari hat and T-shirt
- Government taxes
Excludes:
- Extras at the lodges i.e. drinks, telephone, laundry, Internet
etc.
- International flight
- Departure tax
- Tips to drivers (highly recommended)
- Visa, Travel Insurance (we can help arrange of them)
The Selous Game Reserve
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.
Reserve History
As early as the 1890’s, Selous Game Reserve was thought of as a
place of enormous natural value and has since been subjected to
management and conservation measures. From 1905-1912 it was made up
of four reserves established by German colonial administration. In
1922 these four smaller reserves were merged to form the Selous Game
Reserve named after the legendary hunter/explorer who died in the
area in 1917.
Between 1936-1947 this area was enlarged several times over so as to
include major animal movement corridors, particularly those of
elephants who wander over vast distances throughout their lives. In
1974 the Park reached its present glory and became one of Tanzania’s
three World Heritage Sites along with Zanzibar and Olduvai Gorge.
This status will hopefully ensure Selous long term survival!
Frederick Courteney Selous was born in 1851 in London and from an
early age developed an obsession for the old day explorers like
Livingstone himself. At the age of 19 Selous landed at a South
African port and was determined to make a name for himself as a
hunter/explorer. The indefatigable Selous had a strength, stamina
and passion that was unrivalled and with only limited funds he took
on the great outdoors. During his wanderings, Selous discovered
several butterfly species and recorded valuable information
regarding natural history and conservation, as well as befriending
some of the times most influential characters such as Theodore
Roosevelt the 26th president of the United States.
During the first world war, at around the age of 60, Selous joined the 25th Royal Fusiliers in which he made Captain due to his extensive bush knowledge and hunting experience on foot. Responsible for pushing the Germans out of that area of Tanzania or Tanganyika as it was then known as Selous met his end on the 4th of January 1917 when he was shot by a German soldier. He was 66 years old and is now buried at the base of the Beho Beho hills in the Northern Sector of the reserve.
