Nyerere National Park

Nyerere National Park covers 30,893 square kilometers in southeastern Tanzania, carved from the northern section of what was previously the Selous Game Reserve. It is now the largest national park in Africa, and one of the largest protected wildlife areas in the world. The park was renamed in 2019 to honor Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding president.

The Rufiji River is the defining feature of the park. It runs through the center, splitting into channels, lagoons, and lake systems that attract enormous concentrations of wildlife. Crocodiles hold the sandbanks year-round. Hippo pods sit in the shallower channels. Elephant herds wade into the river to drink and bathe. During the dry season, every animal in the park is drawn toward the water. A boat safari on the Rufiji gives you a completely different perspective from anything a vehicle can offer.

Nyerere is also one of the few national parks in Tanzania where guided walking safaris are fully permitted. Being on foot changes the experience entirely. You read tracks, smell the bush, and feel the scale of the wilderness in a way that a game drive vehicle removes. Walking here is done with an armed ranger and an experienced guide.

The park holds lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, wild dog, hippo, crocodile, and over 440 bird species. Visitor numbers are very low. The southern circuit as a whole is quieter than the north, and Nyerere sits at the far end of that scale.

Honest note: Nyerere is at its best in the dry season. Some camps close from March through May during the heavy rains. The park is not reachable by road from Dar in a single comfortable day. We fly all our guests in. Plan for at least three nights to get proper value from the trip.