Nyerere National Park

Nyerere is the former Selous Game Reserve, renamed in 2019 for Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's first president. Covering about 30,900 km² (11,930 sq mi), roughly the area of Belgium, it is the largest national park in Tanzania, and the Selous has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982. Lakes, channels and the Rufiji, the longest river in Tanzania, thread through the landscape, which is why the park offers a range of safari styles you cannot get elsewhere in the country.

The Rufiji system holds some of the heaviest concentrations of hippo and crocodile in Africa, together with strong numbers of elephant and buffalo. The park also shelters African wild dog, an endangered species, in one of the largest remaining packs anywhere in Africa. Lions and leopards are plentiful too, and because the park is so remote and visited so lightly, encounters tend to be unhurried and private rather than shared with a queue of vehicles.

Nyerere stands apart among Tanzania's major parks for letting you leave the vehicle behind. Boat safaris drift the river channels and lakes, bringing you level with hippo pods and sunbathing crocodiles and into reach of waterside birds that no road touches. Walking safaris go out with armed rangers, and fly-camping puts you under the stars in the bush. Classic game drives sit alongside all of it.

June to October is the prime window, with animals gathered near the river and boat outings at their best. Instead of driving down from the north, most guests fly in on a small plane from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, so the park pairs easily with a beach ending on Zanzibar and anchors a southern-and-coast itinerary well away from the Serengeti route.