The Selous Game Reserve is a massive and yet unknown expanse of Africa, teeming with wildlife, including the famous “Big 5”. The reserve is one of the largest faunal reserves in the world, officially covering over 50,000 square kilometres, but with adjacent wildlife controlled areas it covers over 100,000 square kilometres. It was declared a World Heritage Site by the UN in 1982.
Famed for its large herds of buffalo, good numbers of elephants and relatively good sightings of the rare African Wild Dog, amongst many other species and including a very impressive list of bird species.
The reserve is named after the famed Englishman, explorer, author, hunter and conservationist, Frederick Courteney Selous.
Selous was finally allowed to join the First World War in 1915 at the age of 64, when it was realised that men with his attributes were needed if the Allies were to enjoy any success in this area of the arena. He joined the 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers – an eclectic group of men including a British millionaire, several American cowboys, a Scottish light-house keeper, a naturalist, a circus clown, an Arctic explorer, an opera singer, a famous photographer, French Foreign Legionaries, some Siberian prison escapees and a lion tamer. Their average age was well above that of an average soldier and together with their reputation for daring and endurance, they gained themselves the nickname of “The Old and the Bold”. F.C. Selous was shot and killed instantly in a minor battle with Germans, in the north of what is now the reserve. His simple grave is still there and artefacts of the war can still be found on walking safaris, whilst keeping an eye out for elephants, buffalo and lion.
Several safari camps, catering to all areas of the market, can be found aside the lakes, along the Rufiji river or up in the hills with beautiful views of endless Africa.