SELOUS GAME RESERVE

Selous named after Sir. Frederick Selous, the Englishman famous big game hunter and conservationist. Selous Game reserve is the one of the largest faunal reserves of the world located in the south of Tanzania. Number of wild dog population and probably its largest buffalo, hippo, crocodile and lion prides are all inhabit.

SEASONS

Dry Season: The dry season sets in during June to November and is the best time for game viewing along the rivers. Elephants come out of the bush at that time and predators are more commonly seen.

Rainy Season: January to April is wonderful for birdlife ad lush scenery but many roads become impassable after heavy rains. December to February is still good for game viewing but can be rather hot and humid. The safari lodges are usually closed from March to May.

SELOUS SPECIALITIES

• Rare and endangered Wild Dog

• Boat game viewing

• Fishing

• Thousands of migrating elephants

• Walking safaris

• Huge wilderness

FACTS

This massive stretch of land is the second largest game reserve in Africa. At over 21,000 miles² (55,000 km²) it is almost four times the size of the Serengeti.

The only human habitations allowed are limited tourist facilities.

Road access is only possible during the dry season and most visitors fly in from Dar es Salaam by charter aircraft.

Safari lodges are restricted to the top 20% of the reserve.

This is a malarial area.

RUAHA NATIONAL PARK

The second Tanzania largest national park, a vast block protected areas that supports one of the largest elephant population on the continent. Ruaha is one of the few  African parks where casual visitors regularly encounter all three of African’s large cats (lion, cheetah, and leopards) also is a good location for African wild dogs which is mostly often seen around mwagusi river. An estimated population of 12000 excelent elephant centered upon the Great Ruaha ecosystem.

About Ruaha National Park

Size: 10,300 sq km (3,980 sq miles), Tanzania's 2nd biggest park.

Location: Central Tanzania, 128km (80 miles) west of Iringa.

Getting there

Scheduled and/or charter flights from Dar es Salaam, Selous, Serengeti, Arusha, Iringa and Mbeya.

Year-round road access through Iringa from Dar es Salaam (about 10 hours) via Mikumi or from Arusha via Dodoma.

What to do

Day walks or hiking safaris through untouched bush.

Stone age ruins at Isimila, near Iringa, 120 km (75 miles) away, one of Africa's most important historical sites

MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK

Mikumi National Park is abouts the northern border of Africa's biggest game reserve - the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean.

Size:

3,230 sq km (1,250 sq miles), the fourth-largest park in Tanzania, and part of a much larger ecosystem centred on the uniquely vast Selous Game Reserve.

Location:

283 km (175 miles) west of Dar es Salaam, north of Selous, and en route to Ruaha, Udzungwa and (for the intrepid) Katavi.

Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it  from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes, during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favoured also by Mikumi's elephants.

More than 400 bird species have been recorded, with such colorful common residents as the lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated longclaw and bateleur eagle joined by a host of European migrants during the rainy season.

How to get there?

A good surfaced road connects Mikumi to Dar es Salaam via Morogoro, a roughly 4 hour drive.

Also road connections to Udzungwa, Ruaha and (dry season only) Selous.

Charter flight from Dar es Salaam, Arusha or Selous. Local buses run from Dar to park HQ where game drives can be arranged.

What to do?

Game drives and guided walks. Visit nearby Udzungwa or travel on to Selous or Ruaha.

UDZUNGWA NATIONAL PARK

Udzungwa is the largest and most biodiverse of a chain of a dozen large forest-swathed mountains that rise majestically from the flat coastal scrub of eastern Tanzania. Known collectively as the Eastern Arc Mountains, this archipelago of isolated massifs has also been dubbed the African Galapagos for its treasure-trove of endemic plants and animals, most familiarly the delicate African violet.

Udzungwa Mountains has only recently gained its status as a National Park. Swathed in a unique and fascinating rain forest, the mountains have been untouched for thousands of years due to the taboos of traditional beliefs. Still rarely visited, Udzungwa is a must for those looking for this the true 'country of contrasts'.

The Udzungwa forest is part of the Eastern Arc, which extends from the Southern Highlands through the Uluguru and Usambara mountains nothwards to Pare. The forests in the Eastern Arc are known for their very high biodiversity. The Usambara violet has one of its most southwesterly occurrences in Udzungwa. Three monkeys, Sanje crested mangabey, the Matundu galago and the Iringa red colobus, are found only in Udzungwa. Visitors in the park are likely to see at least the red colobus.

A trip to Udzungwa involves a walk beneath the canopy of primary rainforest, with the chance to see the abundant endemics, climbing steadily up the mountain, across cascading streams to emerge at the top of the Sanje Waterfalls to breathtaking views over the rift valley.

What to do

From a two-hour hike to the waterfall to camping safaris.

Combine with nearby Mikumi or en route to Ruaha.