South Tanzania Holiday Adventures, Selous and Ruaha Game Parks

A Tour of Selous National Park and Ruaha Game Reserve in Southern Tanzania

Best Of The South - 6 Nights, 7 Days Safari

This trip combines the best lodges inlargest game protected area in Africa; the Selous Game Reserve and the largest National Park in Africa, Ruaha National Park. While staying at these top end lodges, you are guaranteed a great safari experience. We recommend combining this itinerary with a beach holiday in Zanzibar or at Ras Kutani Beach Lodge near Dar-es-Salaam.

Day by day itinerary

Day 1 - 3: The tour starts with an early morning flight from Dar-es-Salaam to the Selous. The Selous Game Reserve is the largest wildlife protected area in Africa; at 55,000 square kilometres this UN World Heritage site is larger than Switzerland. The concentrations of wildlife is huge boasting Tanzania's largest population of elephant as well as large numbers of buffalo, hippo and wild dog. Other species commonly seen are lion, bushbuck, impala, giraffe, eland, baboon, zebra and greater kudu. The park also has over 350 bird species and 2,000 plant species.

On arrival you are collected and taken to your lodge at Beho Beho. The lodge has always had a great reputation for offering a true African safari experience; with a variety of activities including walking, boating and vehicles safaris. The guided walking safaris are a specialty of the camp and can be designed to suit your specific interests be it birding along the Beho Beho River or game spotting in the First World War trenches.

Day 4 - 6: After a final game drive in the Selous you take a charter aircraft to the private airstrip at Jongomero Camp in Ruaha National Park. Ruaha is one of Tanzania's least accessible areas and as a result it is totally untouched. This vast wilderness is rich in wildlife and contains a wide variety of species that includes greater and lesser kudu, roan and sable antelope, huge herds of elephant and buffalo and an abundance of bird life. It is a birdwatcher's paradise containing over 465 bird species of which 350 species are not found in the parks of Northern Tanzania. The Great Ruaha River, which offers viewing of large numbers of hippo and crocodile and spectacular scenery, transects the park. You will spend two nights at Jongomero and a mixture of driving, walking and boat safaris are on offer.

The camp is in the remote south-western section of Ruaha National Park, on the backs of the seasonal Jongomero Sand River and is one of the best safari camps in East Africa. This remoteness is of the nicest aspects of the camp and you are unlikely to see any guests from other lodges during your stay.

On your final day you fly back to either Dar-es-Salaam.