Selous
Game Reserve
Description:
The Selous Game
Reserve is the largest protected wildlife area in Africa at
55,000
sq.km, 4 times the size of Serengeti. A UN World
Heritage site; this pristine, uninhabited area is larger than
Switzerland. Selous can justifiably claim to offer
unparalleled wilderness. Located in southern Tanzania, it is
home to the largest populations of some of Africa's most
sought after game including elephant, lion, native black
rhino, wild dog, leopard, buffalo,
hippo, crocodile and herds
of plains game, yet it remains one of the least visited of the
great game
sanctuaries on the continent. The reserve gets its
name from the hunter-explorer Frederick Courtney Selous, whose
books about his exploits were best sellers in Victorian
England. This is unspoilt natural environment for wildlife
providing unbeatable adventure safari with Classic Tours &
Safaris. Full day game drives inside the reserve in open slide
roof 4x4 vehicles in the North-West sector of the reserve
often do not pass a single other vehicle, since this is far
away from the busier routes in the East. For anyone who has
struggled to photograph wildlife through a throng of other
vehicles or followed a convoy of vehicles through other
national parks, the personal experience of the little visited
Selous is particularly refreshing.
Activities
and Special Interests:
Take a cable car
across Stieglers Gorge (100 metres deep and 100 metres wide);
bird watching; photography; walking safaris; and fishing Tiger
Fish and Vandu (in the
rivers of the
Kilombero Game Controlled
Area to the west of the reserve). Walking safaris (with an
armed ranger), game drive and boat trips are organized by the
Classic Tours & Safaris.
Main
Features:
Selous stand out
from many of the other wonderful reserves and parks with which
Africa is blessed for the opportunity to take boat safaris and
walking safaris. Both options bring you far closer to the
natural environment than regular 4x4 game drives and are not
generally available in other reserves. In addition to this the
sheer
dramatic scale of Selous makes it an outstanding example
of untouched African wilderness, and as one of the last
refuges of healthy populations of the endangered wild dogs
the reserve truly can claim to offer a unique African safari
experience. The waters of
Kilombero Game Controlled Area (GCA)
are home to the ferocious tiger fish and vandu fish, the
latter equipped with a primitive set of lungs set of lungs
which allow it to migrate from one landlocked pool to another.
Best
time to visit:
During dry
season, June-October and December-March when game is forced
from hiding to the river to drink. Short rains are expected in
November and the long rains usually last from early April-late
May. Due to a vastly improved road infrastructure around the
Matambwe HQ the main track connecting Matambwe-Mtemere gates
is anticipated to be passable year round from 2004.
Accessibility:
Selous Game
Reserve is accessible by road and air.
For more details
contact us
