Selous Game Reserve - Game Reserve Par Excellence
One of the last great natural game reserves, the Selous Game Reserve
, located in the southern part of Tanzania, includes over 7 million acres of land - including both a core zone and a human-inhabited buffer zone. With over 200,000 Cape buffalo, 80,000 wildebeest, 30,000 African elephants and numerous specimens of most of Africa's wildlife, this zone of pristine, nearly untouched forest plays a huge part in conserving what is left of African fauna.The purpose of a game reserve like the Selous Game Reserve is to allow humans to participate in hunt and view wild animals without hurting the balance of the environment more than can be helped. At the same time, by keeping close watch on all human activity within its boundaries, the national park can severely cut down on poaching and other activities that are harmful to animals. Subsistence poaching, however, has substantially cut down on the numbers of wildlife in the Selous' buffer zone - thankfully, the core zone is yet nearly untouched.
The Selous Game Reserve operates under strict regulations from the Tanzania Game Department, leasing out only 1/40th of its space at one time for a five-year stretch to safari companies, for the combined purposes of photographic safaris and hunting. As a result, plentiful specimens of birds and animals - herons, stilts, storks, ducks, antelopes, elephants and giraffes - can be seen on its premises. Even the lion, the greater kudu(a type of antelope) and the rare sable antelope can be found here - species that you will not find in such numbers even in other national parks or game reserves in Africa.
In fact, only the outer regions of the Selous are visited by humans for safaris and related expeditions - the inner parts are not allowed to be accessed, and are isolated from humans to allow animals to maintain their natural habitat.
During a safari in the Selous Game Reserve, you will be staying at camps located in the "buffer zone" of the Reserve. The time you spend at the Selous will be taken up mostly by long drives in open 4X4 vehicles. Boat rides on the vast and extensive Rufiji River system are also common, giving you a glimpse of alligators, crocodiles, water birds and other fauna that are not easily visible on land. For the closest contact with the wilderness, it can also be explored on foot -camera in hand, sniffing the clean air and enjoying the sights and sounds that the forest has to offer. Rangers from the Tanzania Game Department invariably accompany visitors on these walking safaris, so they are invariably safe.
The safari can last anywhere between 2 days and one week, or be part of a customizable itinerary that you can set up yourself. Safari companies are becoming more and more flexible in this aspect, willing to schedule custom trips for groups of two people and above. To save time and let you spend the greatest possible part of your vacation in this outstanding game reserve, safari companies can also arrange for you to be airlifted from Tanzania's nearby Dar-Es-Salaam airport to a base camp bordering the Selous Game Reserve.
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