SELOUS GAME RESERVE:
Perhaps the last true wilderness
in Africa. Selous is an unbounded expanse of bush, roughly equivalent
to the size of Switzerland.Named after Frederick Selous, the naturalist,
hunter and explorer, who once roamed these parts with his Presidential
clients, he was eventually to meet his death in World War One Skirmish,
buried where he fell at Beho Beho deep in the area and that now bears
his name. The pocket of Tanzania is steeped in history, from the wreck
of the Konigsberg destroyer sunk in the Rufiji River to the remnants of
the slave caravans that dragged their tragic cargo through Selous, but
today the game reserve is rapidly gaining repute amongst the more discerning
safari hands keen to find solitude in the wilds of Africa. Selous is bisected
by the Rufiji River,the main artery and life blood of the entire ecosystem
that flows
through the reserve and provides
the focal point of much of our game viewing whilst there. One of the principal
attractions of a visit to this vast wilderness is the option to include
boat safaris and foot safaris.
In addition to the classic game
drives that constitute much of a safari. Meandering along the river in
a covered boat, avoiding the pods of hippo and crocodiles that launch
into the water at our approach, adds a new and very exciting dimension
to your Tanzanian Safari, memories of the African Queen difficult to resist
as we drift along the river.
Similarly, foot safaris, accompanied
by armed rangers in case we meet a hippo or elephant with which we share
the trails, take us into a new realm of wildlife interaction. Selous being
one of the few places where walking is permitted. The size and location
of Selous means it is accessible only by small bush planes that take the
client into remote bush strips, cleared of doum palms, deep in the reserve.
The park supports enormous numbers of wild animals: 200,000 buffalo, 30,000
elephant (more than half the country's population), and 80,000 wildebeest,
as well as one of the healthiest populations of the endangered African
Wild Dog. A successful project is underway to nurture the Reserve's population
of black rhino back to health following their depletion by poachers in
the 1970s and 80s, and sightings are now possible in the tourist area.
The greater part of the northern
sector of the Selous is earmarked for photographic tourism, and it is
one of the most beautiful and game-rich areas in the whole ecosystem.
Three-quarters of the Reserve is woodland of various types, short grassy
plains, and seasonally flooded pans.
