Nyerere National Park (Selous)

Nyerere National Park, formerly the northern section of Selous Game Reserve, ranks among Africa's largest protected areas. Renamed in 2019 to honor Tanzania's founding father, Julius Nyerere, this vast wilderness spans an area larger than Switzerland, offering unparalleled safari experiences far from northern circuit crowds.

The Rufiji River system forms the park's heartbeat, creating a network of channels, oxbow lakes, and seasonal wetlands that sustain incredible wildlife diversity. This aquatic network enables unique boat safaris, allowing visitors to observe hippos, crocodiles, elephants, and abundant birdlife from water level - a perspective impossible in most Tanzanian parks.

Nyerere pioneered walking safaris in Tanzania, and this remains one of the best places for guided bush walks. Accompanied by armed rangers, visitors track animals on foot, learning to read signs, understand ecosystems, and experience the African bush from a primal, visceral perspective.

The park protects significant populations of endangered species, particularly African wild dogs (one of Africa's largest populations), black rhinos, and rare Lichtenstein's hartebeest. Its remote location and challenging access have preserved wilderness values increasingly rare elsewhere in Africa.