Nyerere National Park

Nyerere National Park — formerly known as the Selous Game Reserve — is the largest national park in Africa. At 22,000 km², it is larger than Switzerland. The northern section, designated as Nyerere National Park in 2019 in honour of Tanzania's founding president Julius Nyerere, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the last true wilderness areas on the continent.

The park's defining feature is the Rufiji River, which drains an enormous catchment across southern Tanzania before meeting the Indian Ocean. The river creates a labyrinth of channels, lakes, and flood plains that are best explored by boat — an experience unavailable in any of Tanzania's northern circuit parks. Hippos, crocodiles, and hundreds of bird species populate the channels. Elephant and buffalo wade across the shallows. The wildlife viewing from a boat on the Rufiji is categorically different from anything you experience from a vehicle in the Serengeti.

Nyerere's other distinction is its wild dog population. The park holds one of the largest African wild dog packs on the continent. Wild dogs are critically endangered — fewer than 6,000 remain in Africa — and seeing a pack hunt is one of the rarest and most extraordinary wildlife experiences available. Nyerere offers a realistic chance.

For most travellers, Nyerere is a second Tanzania trip — after the northern circuit has been done. For those willing to skip the crowds entirely, it works beautifully as a first trip: less dramatic in the iconic way, more raw, more truly wild.