Selous Game Reserve
The game reserve name derives from the famous hunter and explorer Frederick Courtney Selous, a keen naturalist and conservationist as well as a hunter. Selous was killed in the first World War in the Beho Beho region of the reserve. Larger than Switzerland in size, the reserve is the largest in Africa and is second only to the Serengeti in its concentration of wildlife. One of the single largest remaining elephant populations in the world is in Selous. The best time to go to Selous is in the cool season between the end of June and the end of October. With a guide, walking safaris can be taken from the camps.
Ruaha National Park
Southern Tanzania contains the most pristine and untouched wildlife areas. Vast tracts of land remain unexplored and unexploited – part of the Africa of long ago. The southern parks’ unspoiled loveliness is due in part to their relative inaccessibility. A four-wheel drive vehicle is always the best way to get around the region. Buaha is Tanzania’s second largest national park and one of its wildest. Crocodiles, hippos and clawless otters soak and play in the water and on the banks of the great Ruaha River. Reedbuck, waterbuck and buffalo drink, ever watchful for lion, leopard, jackal, spotted hyena and the hunting dog. The grassland borders of the river are home to the greater and lesser kudu, a large elephant population, eland, impala, Grant’s gazelle, dik dik, zebra, warthog, mongoose, wildcat, porcupine and the shy civet. There are plenty of Eurasian migrant birds on their outward and return journeys as well as resident kingfishers, plovers, hornbills, green wood hoopoes, bee-eaters, sunbirds, and egrets. The best months to go are between July and November when the animals are concentrated around shrinking water holes.
