Southern Safaris - Selous, Ruaha & Mikumi

Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha & Mikumi National Parks - often referred to as Tanzania’s Southern Safari destinations - are some of the most untouched game reserves in Africa. The number of tourists is capped to limit the environmental impact of tourism and this, together with the immense size of these parks, makes them ideal for travellers seeking a sense of isolation, exploration, and discovery.

Selous, Mikumi and Ruaha display phenomenally beautiful and wild landscapes with miombo forests (virgin bush), rivers and plains and possessing an impressive diversity of wildlife. Unlike most other Tanzanian National Parks, walking safaris with an armed ranger are permitted in these Parks.

Southern Parks Info
Your Safari
Best time to visit
How to get there

Southern National Parks Info

Selous: Selous - remote & wild - is the largest game reserve in Africa (about 4x Serengeti). It encompasses an array of habitats and landscapes from hot volcanic springs, sporadic lakes, rivers, to woodland vegetation with patches of dense hardwood forest and some of the finest virgin bush left in Africa. The truly impressive Rufiji River is a major focal point with its floodplains, islands, oxbow lakes and the dramatic rock sided Stieglers Gorge.

Selous offers a fantastic range of wildlife, including elephant, hippo, some rhino, buffalo (largest population in Africa), gnu, hartebeest, Greater Kudu, sable antelope, eland, reedbuck, bushbuck, waterbuck, warthog, zebra, giraffe, and wildebeest. Predators, such as lion, leopard, and spotted hyena, are in abundance and it holds a significant percentage of the remaining population of the African wild dogs - one of the continents most endangered carnivores. It has over 350 species of bird, e.g. fish eagle, secretary bird, kingfisher, billstork; numerous reptiles e.g. crocodiles, various snakes and lizards; and over 2,000 plant species.

Mikumi: Mikumi was gazetted as National Park in 1964 and forms a link in the ecological chain that stretches between Selous and the Eastern Arc hills in the north. It is one of the more accessible southern parks with an approximate size of 3200 sq km and forms the northern boundary of Selous Game Reserve. Mikumi benefits from the highest game density of the whole conservation area.

The main features of the Mikumi National Park is the Mkata River floodplain along with the mountain ranges that border the park on two sides. Open grassland dominates the floodplain areas, which attracts wildlife from the miombo woodlands covering the surrounding hills. The floodplains are home to large herds of buffalo, zebra and elephant. Look out for Mikumi's elephant - a more compact species than the rest of their Tanzanian cousins. Many animals retreat to the miombo woodlands in the wet season, when lions can be witnessed perched high in the trees to keep their feet dry from the saturated sticky black soil. Hertebeest, sable antelope, greater kudu, colobus monkey and hunting dog can also be seen in the woodlands. Mikumi's bird population is fantastic, especially during the rainy season, when more than 300 species as Eurasian migrants seek refuge in the park.

Ruaha: Ruaha, established in 1964, is the second largest National Park in Tanzania and one of the wildest. It is located in the Eastern Rift Valley at elevations between 750 and 1,900 m and represents a transition zone, where eastern and southern African flora and fauna overlap. It holds the northernmost example of miombo woodland, common in central Africa, and the most southerly protected area with Grant's gazelle, lesser kudu and striped hyena. The Ruaha River flows along the park’s entire border creating spectacular gorges.

Ruaha protects a wide variety of habitats, including evergreen forest & swamp and contains the largest elephant population of Tanzania. Wildlife includes lion, leopard, cheetah, hunting dogs, giraffe, zebra, kudu, bushbuck, waterbuck, eland, buffalo, roan and sable antelope, hartebeest, warthogs and crocodiles and hippos in its rivers. On their annual migration from Europe to Asia, 1000s of birds flock to Ruaha. Some 480 bird species have been sighted in the park with residents including kingfishers, plovers, hornbills, green wood hoopoes, bee-eaters, sunbirds and egrets.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit Selous is from June to October, when the weather is cool & dry and the vegetation lush.

Mikumi is accessible all year round, though Foxes Safari Camp closes during the rainy season.

The best months for game viewing in Ruaha are July to October (Yellow Season), when the animals are concentrated around shrinking water holes and the Ruaha River. For bird-watching, lush vegetation and wildflowers the best time is January and February (dry & warm). In March (wet season) tracks can become a bit difficult to traverse.

How to get there

Selous and Mikumi can both be reached by air, a 45-60 minutes flight from Dar-es-Salaam, to the airstrip closest to your accommodation. From June 2003, Selous will also have a direct connection with the Northern National Parks through flights between Arusha and Selous. Alternatively, both parks can be reached by train, a cheap and very enjoyable mode of transport. The TAZARA Express, a non-stop train from Dar takes approximately 4-5 hours. Starting in June 2003, Selous and Mikumi can also be reached by the more luxuruous private Safari Express, a regular and reliable train service between Dar - Selous - Mikumi. Dar - Selous will take 4 hours and Dar - Mikumi 7 hours.

Ruaha can be reached by air from Selous (2 hours flight), directly from Dar (3 hours flight) or starting in June 2003 directly from Arusha. From June 2003, we will also be able to offer much cheaper and extremely enjoyable land transfers to Ruaha - combinations of the private Safari Express train and private car transfers.