Nyerere National Park, Tanzania: A Complete Safari Guide

The Nyerere National Park is the north-eastern section of the vast Selous Game Reserve, which was set aside for photographic safaris and was elevated to national park status in November 2019. The park was named after the first president of Tanzania, Mr Julius Nyerere (late) in appreciation of his role in supporting conservation and protection of wildlife in the country. One of the most attractive and game-rich locations in the ecology of Selous Game Reserve is Nyerere National Park, lying in the Rufiji River basin of southeastern Tanzania.

Selous Game Reserve was formed in 1922 and named after famous Hunter and explorer Frederick Selous Courtney in 1982. it was awarded a UNESCO world heritage site for the wide diversity of wildlife and unbroken nature.

Nyerere National Park is situated in south eastern Tanzania. To the north west the park is surrounded by Mikumi National Park and Udzungwa Mountains National Park to the west.

Nyerere National Park is the largest national park in Africa with an area of approximately 30,893sqkm. Perhaps it is one of the last truly wild places left in Africa. The National Park has a wide variety of wildlife habitats including open grasslands, Miombo woodlands, swamps and riverine forests in the many tributaries of the mighty Rufiji River which flows through the National Park to the Indian Ocean.

Wildlife is amazing with some of the highest population of mammals and reptiles in Africa. Here you can observe buffaloes, elephants, hippos and crocodiles. Nyerere National Park, including the rest of Selous Game Reserve, is believed to be the last bastion of the African wild dog. Other common fauna are the wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, eland, the larger kudu, sable antelopes, black rhino, waterbuck, impala, lion, leopard, the spotted hyena, cheetah, baboon, vervet and blue monkey and the black and white colobus monkey which can be seen in riverine woods. Migratory and resident birds have been recorded in the national park and number some 440 species.

The park has a host of game viewing activities including the thrilling experience of a walking safari in the presence of an armed ranger. There are plenty of canals in the park and boating safaris are popular with great opportunities for large game viewing and bird observation. This is in addition to the game drives in specially adapted safari vehicles that together with boat and walking safaris provide an exciting and rich wildlife watching program unique to Nyerere National Park. The best time to go is between June and October. Some areas of the park are closed to game drives during the lengthy rains from March to May due to poor accessibility.