Selous Game Reserve

Covering 45,000km² of wilderness, with grassy plains, open woodland, mountains and forests, the Selous Game Reserve (pronounced Selooo, to rhyme with Yahoo!, and named after the great explorer and hunter, Frederick Courtney Selous) is Africa's largest game reserve. It's about three times the size of South Africa's Kruger National Park, and twice the size of the Serengeti National Park! In a fitting tribute, it's also one of Tanzania's three World Heritage Sites.

Safari camps and lodges in Selous Game Reserve

Much of the southern side of the Selous is fairly impenetrable bush, and a safari in the Selous here means a hunting expedition – which we don't offer. Instead we concentrate on a handful of purely photographic safari camps, in the far north of the game reserve. All these safari camps are within the reserve, except for Sable Mountain, which is just outside the northern boundary. They are widely spread out, so you can often spend a whole day being driven around without seeing another vehicle.

Click here for a satellite map – showing the lodges and safari camps described below.

Lake Manze Camp

On the east side of the park, Lake Manze Camp is the newest, and the simplest, of the camps in the Selous Game Reserve. Like its sister-camp in Ruaha, Mdonya Old River Camp, Lake Manze aims to offer a real, and real simple, experience of safari in the Selous – at a very reasonable cost. (Read more about Lake Manze Camp… )

Sable Mountain Lodge

On the northern boundary of the park, Sable Mountain Lodge is a good-value, fairly simple camp in a picturesque location which is conveniently close to the train station if you are arriving by train. It is also ideal for those on a tighter budget, who just want to do nothing for a few days – but is a distance from the main wildlife action during the dry season! (Read more about Sable Mountain Lodge… )

Beho Beho

Beho Beho is in a unique site in the Selous, high on a hill. It offers excellent food, impressive creature comforts (whilst maintaining a very 'bush' atmosphere) and some of the best guiding in Africa. If you're staying here as part of your trip, you at least consider spending one or two of your nights in their luxurious Beho Beho luxurious fly-camping. Beho Beho has rocketed to fame over the last few seasons (several years after we first started encouraging our travellers to come here), and is now a top-notch lodge with a price that's commensurate with its quality: it's reassuringly expensive, and our travellers reviews for this camp tell it all! (Read more about Beho Beho… )

Selous Impala Camp

Near Lake Nzerakela, Selous Impala Camp is one of the newer camps within the park: it opened in 2004! Since then, this small camp has rapidly build itself a first-class reputation for its enthusiastic and energetic focus on the experience – with some comfort thrown in for good measure! See the numerous reviews from travellers about this camp to get a feel for just how well it's doing! (Read more about Selous Impala Camp… )

Sand Rivers Camp

Sand Rivers overlooks the Rufiji River and is probably the most famous camps in the Selous Game Reserve – it's also one of the best. Sand Rivers is fairly small, romantic, stylish, and offers high-quality guiding on foot, by motor boat and 4WD. It's also the base for Sand Rivers' famous fly-camping nights, which use cubes of mosquito netting for tents; and for some of the best long walking safaris in Tanzania: the Sand Rivers walking mobile trips. These are fixed trips on set dates which spend five nights walking and fly-camping throughout the Selous Game Reserve. (Read more about Sand Rivers… )

Rufiji River Camp

Rufiji River Camp is relatively large by the standards of most camps in Selous Game Reserve. It offers good value, simple safari in a great wilderness area – and the option to go fly-camping. The camp itself is right beside the Rufiji River, and offers river safaris, game drives and guided walks. (Read more about Rufiji River Camp… )

Selous Safari Camp

Selous Safari Camp is tucked away beside the beautiful Lake Nzerakela, pays great attention to detail. Its luxury tents really are luxurious, the standards here are high, and the fly-camping run from here might suit more adventurous visitors for a night or two. (Read more about Selous Safari Camp… )

Selous Private Camp

Adjacent to the main Selous Safari Camp, the Selous Private Camp is really an offshoot of the main camp. (Read more about Selous Private Camp… )

The Retreat

Set up in the hills with magnificent views over the remote western part of the northern Selous, The Retreat is a lodge where the focus is on well-being - with their spa being the main focus. Safaris are optional as opposed to the priority here. (Read more about the Retreat… )

Wildlife safaris in Selous Game Reserve Camp

In the north of the game reserve, the Rufiji River flows from west to east, bisecting the Selous. Stemming from this is a network of channels, lakes and swamps that form one of the most outstanding ecological systems in East Africa. These waterways provide the lifeblood of the Selous Game Reserve.

All the camps in the Selous Reserve offer trips through the reserve by boat, vehicle and on foot. Boat safaris allow you to drift on the lakes and channels, approaching birds and animals closely. You pass hundreds of pods of hippos and thousands of crocodiles, whist on the lakeshores yellow baboon comb the Nile cabbage for insects.

Over 440 bird species have been recorded in the Selous. On the lakes you'll find pink-backed pelicans, African skimmers and giant kingfishers. The sandbanks are home to white-fronted bee-eater colonies whilst ibises and palm swifts nest in the borassus palms.

Selous Game Reserve supports large mammal populations that are best tracked by 4x4 or on foot. Elephants are present in increasing numbers and the Selous boasts Africa's largest buffalo population, as well as herds of zebra, impala, Nyassa wildebeest and Lichtenstein's hartebeest. There are greater kudu, sable, eland and more giraffe (the Maasai sub-species – at the southern edge of its range) than any other park we visit. Vervet and blue monkeys are common and black & white colobus are found in the riverine forest.

Predators will not disappoint, with large prides of lion never far away. Leopard, spotted hyena and cheetah are present, but harder to spot. Perhaps the most exciting predators are the wild dogs, of which Selous has a thriving population. Tracking predators on foot in the Selous is an experience that you'll never forget.

Fly-camping safaris in the Selous Game Reserve

Several of the safari camps in the Selous Game Reserve (and one camp in Katavi National Park) operate fly-camps. We're not sure where the name 'fly-camp' comes from. It might derive from the term 'fly by night', as these are small, temporary camps that can be easily put up and taken down. It might even come from the word 'fly-sheet' which describes the outer canvas of a small tent, or a homemade shelter. It's certainly nothing to do with any winged insects!

Wherever the name comes from, a fly-camp is a small, temporary camp that is set up in the bush. Staying in one is reminiscent of boy-scout camping, only with someone else cooking and doing all the chores for you. Comfort is limited as the tents are just normal camping tents. Dinner is cooked on the fire, and served nearby – after which it's natural to gather around the campfire, relax in canvas chairs, for a drink and a chat. There's something mesmerising about dancing flames under an African sky, with the sounds of the wild in the background.

If you've not done it before, then sleeping out in the bush in Africa might seem a little scary, but there's always an armed game scout nearby to reassure you. We love fly-camping, and can't recommend it too highly for adventurous adults. However, these trips aren't for children. Talk to us about them, and perhaps go fly-camping for just a day or two in the middle of your trip.