Old Selous Data: Size: 50,000 km2 (19,300 mi2) Established: 1896

The oldest and largest UNESCO World Heritage reserve in Africa Site

Nyerere Data Size: 30,000 km2 Established: 1896

Main habitats: Dry miombo woodland, coastal forest, riverine forest, flood-plain grassland

Seasons: dry: June–October wet: November–May

There is little seasonal variation in wildlife.

Activities: Game drives, guided bush walks, riverboat trips

The Nyerere National Park, formerly part of The Selous Game Reserve, is enormous, wild and remote. And it has great wildlife - big game, cape hunting dogs, sable, roan, greater and lesser kudu, raptors, ostrich, crocs, hippos etc. But the main point is that this wildlife can be enjoyed in various interesting habitats within this fabulous place. Most places that are currently accessible have a lot of small informal tracks. This makes getting reasonably close to the animals you want to enjoy much easier. 

The Rufiji River, Tanzania’s largest, flows through the northern part of the Park. The river, which is slow-moving and wide, has created several oxbow lakes in its northern flood plains, creating a beautiful landscape of plains and woodlands interspersed with expanses of water.  The lakes are fringed by borassus and doum palm groves and other attractive trees, and besides being home to very large populations of hippos and crocodiles, these lakes are a magnet for wildlife in the dry season. The hinterland away from the river is characterized by extensive savannahs and woodlands, with occasional baobabs and large stands of Terminalia trees with their tiers of attractive leaf tables. These are intensively browsed by giraffes, which arrived relatively recently in this area and are now increasing fast in numbers. As one winds around this interesting landscape on small, intimate tracks, enjoying the wildlife, it is easy to understand why the Selous was declared a protected area in 1896, part of which is now the Nyerere National Park.

In 2019, about 30,000 km was separated from the reserve, made into a National Park, and renamed the Nyerere National Park in honour of Tanzania’s first President, a devoted conservationist. This makes it the second largest National Park in Africa after the Namib-Nankluft Park in Namibia, which is almost entirely desert.

See Nyerere Packages