This national park, formerly known as the Selous Game Reserve, is the largest national park in Tanzania and is also one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries and national parks worldwide. This national park has a total area of 30893square kilometers about 11928sqaure miles covering the big part of the district of Liwale in the Western Lindi Region, south west Pwani Region, north eastern Ruvuma Region and the bog part of the south eastern Morogoro region the area is said to be larger than 70 different smaller countries and its said to be twice bugger than Costa Rica in Central South America and twice the Belgium
This national park has a river called the River Rufiji, which is the largest and longest river in Tanzania, with numerous hippos and crocodiles. The delta within has one of the largest mangrove forests in the World.
Wildlife in Nyerere National Park
This national park is home to many wildlife species, i.e., lions, wildebeests, giraffes, zebras, hippos, Rhinos, African Wolves, and a large number of crocodiles in the river Rufiji, and this national park is famous for the large population of African bush/ wild dogs. It’s also home to elephants, though due to poaching, the number of these animals is being reduced.
What you should know about this national park
If we talk about the history of this national park, it stretches back to 1896, when its name was Selous. The German Governor in Tanganyika, by then, proclaimed this vast area as a protected area for hunting. And by 1922, the reserve was named after Fredrick Selous because the big game hunter had turned into a conservationist, and because of his love for animals, the reserve was named after him. By 2019, the Government of Tanzania decided to make this conservation area a national park to protect the animals from hunters and poachers, and it was named in honor of the late President of Tanzania President Julius Nyerere. The park was named Nyerere National Park, and by 2019, it was named a full national park under the full protection of the Tanzania National Parks Authority.
Some of the attractions in Nyerere national park
This national park has numerous attractions, and the most common ones are to see the big five, a large concentration of elephants, and hippos. River Rufiji is full of hippos and crocodiles, large population of wild dogs
The Rufiji river Myriad Oxbows Delta and Lakes
The Rufiji river is the largest river in Tanzania flowing from the northern part p\of the park and because the river is slow moving end up creating oxbow lakes in the northern flood plains and they create a beautiful landscape of plains and the woodlands interspersed with expanses of water
The Rufiji also has a lot animal like the large concentration of crocodiles, and the high concentration of hippos
Large concentration of wild dogs
In this national park, there is a large concentration of hunting wild dogs, and they are not all that many in other game parks. This park has the last true stronghold for hunting dogs in the whole of Africa
The diverse Bird life in this national park.
In Nyerere National Park, there have been 440 different bird species, and many are found in the sandbanks, oxbow lakes, and some channels are home to these species. The rare species of Pel’s fishing owls, white-backed herons that live in the wooded section of the river bank.
The national park has a large concentration of elephants, rare antelope species that include brindled gnu, Nyasaland gnu, Sable antelope, eland, and many others.
Some of the activities include, boating game drives, bird watching and many others
Accommodation
This national park has a variety of accommodation facilities and good services offered. The accommodation has been selected with a lot of care and attention to satisfy our visitors.
Some of these vary in luxury, though in beautiful locations surrounded by nature and close to wildlife of which include, including Beho-Beho lodge, Lake Manza tented camp, Kiba point, and lodge of which all these offer the best service to clients.
How to reach to Nyerere National park
Air. There are regular flights from Dar es-Salam and Arusha to a number of small airstrips supplying different camps and lodges
Road. There are two ways to get to the Park from Dar es Salaam. The shortest way is 240km and it goes via Kibiti to Mtemere Gate. The other way, but more interesting, is 350 km goes via Mikumi National Park, Morogoro, Ulunguru Mountains, and the Kisa to Matambwe gate.