Southern Parks

Dominated by the sluggish Rufiji River, the largest protected area in Africa is renowned for its great boat and walking safaris.

Carved off from the largest wildlife game reserve in Africa, the Selous Reserve, the Nyerere National Park was officially gazetted as a National park in 2019.

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Nyerere National Park is spread over 30,893 square kilometers of land area, making it the largest National Park in Africa.
The Park is located in south eastern Tanzania, and was carved out of the Selous Game Reserve.

Prior to creating of the Nyerere N.P, Selous Game Reserve measured approximately 54,600 square kilometers, which at the time made it the 11th largest National Park in the world

GETTING THERE: By road from Dar es Salaam the trip takes around 5 to 6 hours. It is more common for tourists to fly to Nyerere National Pak and Selous Game Reserve. It is roughtly 45 minutes in flying time from Dar es Salaam and the aircraft lands at a variety of airstrips spread around the park. There are also direct flights available from Zanzibar to Nyerere though some connections may be non direct with brief stops in Dar es Salaam.

The average temperatures in Nyerere National park vary very little. Considering humidity, temperatures feel hot for most of the year with a low chance of precipitation most of the year. The warmest time of year is generally mid to late November where highs are regularly around 92°F (33.3°C) with temperatures rarely dropping below 70.5°F (21.4°C) at night. The Park experiences bimodal rainfall season and the short rains fall in November and December and are followed by a partial drying out in January and February. Thereafter, the long rains follow ending in early May. The Park's panoramic plains are decorated with golden grass, savannah forests, riverine marshes and lakes. Rufiji River, the biggest river in Tanzania, cuts through the park and flows into the Indian Ocean.

Altitude: 35 to 1450 meters above sea level (116 feet – 4800 ft);
Rainfall: 750mm Eastern Territory to 1250mm in the Western territory of the Park.( figures per annum).
Temperature range: The average maximum temperature is approximately 29°C and the minimum 21°C.

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The park is home to a large number of birds and mammals. Tourists visiting this park have a good chance to spot Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant, Rhino and other plains game such as Giraffe and Zebra. Because this park is less visited, the animals here tend to be less familiar with humans, something that makes a safari here a more authentic African experience.

For bird watchers, there are more than 430 recorded bird species in the park combined with Selous Reserve. Some of the birds one can spot here include the Giant Kingfishers, Pink-backed Pelicans, White-fronted Bee-eaters, African Skimmers, Ibises, Yellow-billed stork, Purple-crested Turaco, Malagasy squacco Heron, Fish Eagles, Hornbilland many more birds.

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Rufiji River: The mighty Rufiji river runs through parts of both Nyerere National Park and Selous Reserve. Some of the areas within the park that touch and surround the river are classified as photographic zones and are a major attraction not only due to the chances of spotting Hippo and other animals here but also because of the picturesque landscapes. The river also allows for tourists to enjoy Boat Safaris.

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BEST TIME TO VISIT: Mid June to October is generally considered the best time to visit Nyerere National Park. This is the typical Dry season which means the vegetation is thinner and the animals are easier to spot, with many of them being found at various watering spots in the park such as watering holes or the river shores. October to May tends to be wetter and this means thicker, lush green vegetation though the days can get rather warm and humid.

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https://www.bradtguides.com/destinations/africa/tanzania/selous-game-reserve/

Bisected by the life-sustaining Rufiji River, this vast area of dry woodland supports what are probably the world’s largest surviving populations of buffalo, hippo and lion (estimated at around 150,000, 40,000 and 4,000 respectively), and it is also the most important global stronghold for the endangered African wild dog.

As recently as the turn of the millennium, the Greater Selous was also home to around 70,000 elephants, some 10% of the continental total, but a tragic onslaught of commercial poaching has since reduced the population to around 15,000.

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Much of the publicity surrounding the Selous hammers on about its vast area, but this is something of a red herring in touristic terms. True, this vast reserve does attract a mere fraction of the tourist arrivals associated with the northern safari circuit. And accommodation is indeed limited to a dozen-or-so low-key camps that espouse an eco-friendly philosophy and thatch-and-canvas aesthetic, and whose combined bed capacity amounts to a few hundred clients.

Yet a quick glace at a map will reveal that these tourist facilities are all compressed within a relatively small public sector to the north of the Rufiji, a reserve-within-a-reserve that accounts for less than 5% of the Selous’s total surface area (with the other 95% carved into private hunting concessions).