Southern Circuit
Why go?
SELOUS GAME RESERVE
This remote, beautiful and simply enormous World Heritage Site -
about the size of Ireland or Switzerland - is Africa's largest
wildlife sanctuary, with an area of 54,600 sq. km. It's also home
to one of the single largest remaining elephant populations in the
world. The reserve has a varied terrain of rolling savannah
woodland, grassland plains and rocky outcrops. Buffalo, crocodile,
hippo and wild dog can also be seen here, as well as 350 bird
species. It's a popular area for walking safaris and fly camping:
it's quite possible to go all day without seeing another vehicle or
safari group.
Stay at Sand Rivers Camp
RUAHA NATIONAL PARK
With an area of 10,300 sq.km Ruaha is Tanzania's second largest
national park and one of the wildest, boasting some of Tanzania's
most spectacular and diverse scenery. This park is truly a
photographer's paradise. Crocodiles, hippos and clawless otters
soak and play in the water and on the banks of the great Ruaha
River, which flows along its entire eastern border. Reedbuck,
waterbuck and buffalo drink here, ever watchful for lion, leopard,
jackal, spotted hyena and hunting dog. You might also be lucky
enough to see Greater or Lesser kudu, sable antelope and some of
the 370 bird species.
Stay at Ruaha River Lodge
MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK
Mikumi, to the north of the Selous, is only 283 km away from
Dar-Es-Salaam. The park's flood plain bordered with mountain
ranges, is the main feature: 3,200 square miles of savannah and
miombo woodland offering prime game viewing and over 400
bird species. It’s part of the Greater Selous Ecosystem
and shares many of the same characteristics, but with greater
concentrations of animals due to its higher status as a National
Park.
Animals commonly found here include lion, eland, hartebeest,
buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe, zebra, hippo and elephant. The Mikumi
elephants are mainly grazers and do not cause extensive tree
damage. Lions roam the plains and will occasionally climb into the
branches of trees. The rare wild dogs can be seen in packs here.
The vegetation includes woodland, swamp and grassland with two
water holes, Mkata and Chamgore. Apart from the saddle-bill stork,
hammerkop and malachite kingfisher, you will also find monitor
lizard and python inhabiting the pools.
Stay at Foxes Safari Camp
UDZUNGWA RAINFOREST
The small but fascinating Udzungwa National Park is a
mountainous rainforest habitat an hour’s drive from
Mikumi. There are no roads or accommodation within the park, so
most guests stay in Mikumi and make day trips to the perimeter,
then continue on foot.
The classic excursion is a strenuous trek up the slopes
under the canopy of the rain forest to the spectacular Sanje
Waterfall, with plunging panoramas over the surrounding
countryside from the 2,000m+ summits. The rainforest is a remnant
of the ancient Eastern arc rainforest that stretched along the
eastern rift and which has remained isolated from those in West
Africa for the last 5 million years. So there is a high degree of
endemism, with 25% of the plant species unique to Udzungwa, 4
species of endemic primates (including the sanje-crested
mangebey and the red hehe colobus), and several recently discovered
endemic bird species.