Tanzania Southern Circuit

10 days—Tanzania Southern Circuit Safari

$8000-12000 USD

Get quote

Safari summary

Wildlife Viewing in Tanzania: Ruaha National Park, Selous Game Reserve

Types of Transportation: Land Cruiser, Bush Plane

Active Options Available: Walking Safaris

About this tour

	Tour type	Custom, tailor-made, private
	Main focus	Game drives
	Activity level	Moderate activity
	Best months	July, August, September, October
	Countries	Tanzania
	Parks	Nyerere (Selous)

Fine details

Safari highlights

Boat, canoe, dhow, kayak, mokoro safari
Walking safari—with armed guard

Itinerary

Day 1

Day 1 Travel day International flight

Day 2

Day 2 Southern Sun Dar es Salaam Pickup at the Dar es Salaam airport by your Deeper Africa driver. He will have a sign with your name on it and be waiting for you when you clear customs. Our driver will transport you to the Southern Sun for overnight. Overnight at Southern Sun.

Day 3

Ruaha

Day 3 Ruaha River Lodge Early breakfast at Southern Sun. We’ll transport you to the bush airport in Dar for your morning flight. Coastal Airlines Flight Depart Dar es Salaam @ 8:30 am Arrive Msembe bush strip @ 9:15 am As you leave Dar es Salaam you’ll fly south toward Ruaha into southern Tanzania. This is a world where few safari travelers go. While you are in southern Tanzania you’ll be the guest of Ruaha River Lodge and Rufiji River Camp, two remote lodges with guides who have expertise and knowledge of the wildlife in these wilderness areas. Pickup at Msembe bush strip by Ruaha River Lodge staff. Check in to your river cottage, have lunch, and get acquainted with the lodge. You’ll join one of Ruaha’s trackers and guides for an afternoon game drive into this vast national park and begin noting the variations in game species and ecosystems of southern Tanzania. Be sure to check the river for the elephant clans that come down to drink. Dinner and overnight at Ruaha River Lodge.

Day 4

Ruaha

Day 4 Ruaha River Lodge Breakfast at Ruaha River Lodge. The joy of Ruaha is that there are hardly anypeople. The word Ruaha means “great” in the local HeHe language. The park straddles the Eastern Rift Valley, making for some amazing landscapes. The savannah and bush ecosystems of Ruaha National Park hold one of the largest elephant populations in all of Africa. The horizon is dotted with baobabs in certain areas of the park. Terrain is good for seeing predators, particularly lion and leopard. Rivers and swamps are alive with crocodiles and hippos. The dry open hillsides allow buffaloes and antelope to gather in large herds. All of these herd animals, as well as zebra and giraffe, can be watched as they make their way to the Great Ruaha River to drink. Get your species checklists ready for possible sightings of greater and lesser kudu, sable and roan antelope, bushbuck, and African wild dog. Ruaha is the only park in East Africa that has both greater and lesser kudu. Both morning and afternoon game drives available. Dinner and overnight at Ruaha River Lodge.

Day 5

Ruaha

Day 5 Ruaha River Lodge Breakfast at Ruaha River Lodge. Poaching was a serious problem in Ruaha and the park elephant populations decreased from 22,000 (1967) to 4,000 (1987). Recent census places the elephant population at more than 12,000. Still, the poaching has left its effects. There are few mature elephants at full size and at an age of over 60 years. It is rare to see bull elephants with tusks the size of the bulls in Ngorongoro Crater. It is much more common to see tuskless and small-tusked elephants. Research is being done in Ruaha into whether future generations will breed small tusked elephants, or whether the large tusk gene will dominate the Ruaha elephant herds it did in the past. Ruaha’s birdlife is rich and colorful with 526 recorded species. Full day of wildlife viewing. Consider adding a walking safari to your wildlife viewing. A walking safari in Ruaha allows you to follow tracks and scat, as well as view game on foot. You’ll walk with an experienced guide who can interpret both the small and big parts of the ecosystem. Prior to walking you’ll receive instruction about how to stay safe on foot. The weapon carried by your guide, as well as some simple instructions for you to follow during the walking safari, ensure that you have a great experience. Lunch, dinner, and overnight at Ruaha River Lodge.

Day 6

Nyerere (Selous) | Ruaha

Day 6 Rufiji River Camp Selous Game Reserve Breakfast at Ruaha River Lodge. Arise early for a morning game drive or spend the morning packing and getting ready for your flight to Selous. Ruaha staff will return you to the Msembe bush strip for your flight. Coastal Airlines Flight Depart Ruaha Msembe bush strip @ 11:45 am Arrive Selous bush strip @ 13:05 Pick up by Rufiji River Lodge staff with transport to the lodge for lunch and check in. You’ll be able to get in an afternoon of wildlife viewing or a river wildlife viewing safari so you can begin to enjoy the Reserve. In Selous you can do what you want, when you want. Each day you choose from river safaris, walking safaris, wildlife viewing from a vehicle, or just relaxing around the lodge. The vast area within the boundaries of Selous Game Reserve represent five percent of the land mass of Tanzania. The remote nature of the reserve ensures a wilderness experience. Only the northern section of Selous, north of the Rufiji River, is developed for tourism, but even this area is huge and wild. Teddy Roosevelt’s account of his 1909 safari in Selous, led by Frederick Courtney Selous, is recorded in his book, African Game Trails. Selous was one of the great African explorers and the reserve is named in his honor. Lunch, dinner, and overnight at Rufiji River Lodge.

Day 7

Nyerere (Selous)

Day 7 Rufiji River Camp Selous Game Reserve Breakfast at Rufiji River Lodge. Selous’ ecological environments contain open woodlands, plains, and dense thick forests. But the highlight of Selous for most people is the Rufiji River ecosystem with its meandering streams, swamp lands, and ox-bow lakes. Boat safaris on the Rufiji take you through pods of hippo and more crocodiles than you ever thought possible. Buffalo, waterbuck, impala, and other herd animals are frequently sighted in the water edge meadows. Birding is spectacular along the Rufiji with an abundance of water birds including kingfishers, goliath herons, fish eagles, storks, and several varieties of egret. Rufiji River Lodge will provide river guides and trackers, as well as land guides and trackers. Schedule your game viewing on the river or on land as you choose with the staff at Rufiji River Lodge. Safaris away from the river allow viewing of an uncommon range of animals including antelope, wildebeest, elephant, lion, giraffe, hyena, eland, kudu, and African wild dog. You may encounter either of the two resident species of wildebeest, the black bearded gnu or the southern species, nyasa wildebeest. Make sure you ask about Selous’ role in World War I when German schutztruppefought the British fusiliers. A ½ day adventure can take you to the old battlefields and to the grave of Selous, who was killed by a German sniper during a battle in the park. Lunch, dinner, and overnight at Rufiji River Lodge.

Day 8

Nyerere (Selous) | Ruaha

Day 8 Rufiji River Camp Selous Game Reserve Breakfast at Rufiji River Lodge. Visitors to Selous have the freedom to take walking safaris and boating safaris, in addition to traditional game viewing. Set your schedule of these activities as you choose with staff at Rufiji River Lodge. All activities are available to you each day. Selous accounts for almost half of all of the elephant in Tanzania. Selous’ elephant population suffered greatly in the 1980s when oil prospectors cut roads into the bush and inadvertently allowed poachers easy access into the bush with vehicles. Selous’ elephant population continues to recover from these devastating effects, with many young calves being born. The woodland and dense miombo forest environments require more patience for elephant viewing than in the plains ecosystems of Ruaha. Dinner and overnight at Rufiji River Lodge.

Day 9

Nyerere (Selous)

Day 9 Southern Sun (day room) Breakfast at Rufiji River Lodge. Rufiji staff will get you to the bush strip on time. Coastal Airlines Flight Depart Selous bush strip @ 9:45 am Arrive in Dar es Salaam @ 10:20 am Pickup by Deeper Africa driver and transport to the Southern Sun for day room check in, lunch, and dinner. You’ll have a room available through the evening so you have time to shower and pack for your international flight. Arrange your pickup time with your Deeper Africa driver for transport to the Dar es Salaam International Airport.