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Southern Circuit

Destination

Overview

Tanzania’s Southern Circuit is a less crowded but equally captivating destination, offering an immersive and refined experience for discerning travelers. Spanning a range of ecosystems and cultural landscapes, this region beckons with its unique blend of pristine wilderness, exclusive game reserves, and cultural richness.

Area to Visit

Selous Game Reserve, Mikumi National Park, Ruaha National Park, Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Mikumi National Park

Destinations

Southern Tanzania

Selous Game Reserve

Selous Game Reserve, nestled in the heart of Tanzania's Southern Circuit, is a sprawling expanse of untamed wilderness that beckons the discerning traveler into a realm of unparalleled natural beauty. Spanning approximately 50,000 square kilometers, it stands as one of Africa's largest and least-explored game reserves, promising an exclusive and immersive safari experience.

Distinguished by its remarkable biodiversity, Selous is home to a staggering array of flora and fauna. The reserve's landscapes host a thriving elephant population, estimated at around 40,000, making it a sanctuary for these majestic creatures. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hippos, and crocodiles also roam freely, creating an intricate web of predator-prey dynamics.

The Rufiji River, a lifeline for the reserve, winds its way through Selous, offering not only sustenance to its inhabitants but also a unique perspective for visitors. Boat safaris along the Rufiji provide intimate encounters with sunbathing crocodiles, playful hippos, and a symphony of avian life. The juxtaposition of terrestrial and aquatic safari experiences adds to the reserve's allure.

Selous prides itself on its low tourist density, ensuring an exclusive and unspoiled encounter with the wilderness. Game drives through its varied terrains reveal a dynamic ecosystem where each turn may bring forth a new wildlife spectacle. The reserve's commitment to sustainable tourism allows for an authentic experience while minimizing the impact on its delicate ecosystems.

Unlike many other wildlife reserves, Selous permits walking safaris, granting visitors the opportunity to intimately connect with the smaller details of the environment. Knowledgeable guides lead explorations through the bush, imparting insights into the intricacies of the flora and fauna that might be missed during conventional game drives.

Within the reserve, strategically located luxury camps and lodges offer a harmonious blend of opulence and authenticity. These accommodations, often seamlessly integrated into the natural surroundings, provide a retreat for travelers seeking both comfort and a genuine connection with nature.

Selous Game Reserve holds the prestigious designation of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a testament to its outstanding natural value and unique ecosystems. Ongoing conservation efforts underscore Tanzania's commitment to preserving the reserve's biodiversity, ensuring that future generations can continue to marvel at the wonders that define this extraordinary corner of Africa.

Ruaha National Park

The game viewing starts the moment the plane touches down. A giraffe races beside the airstrip, all legs and neck, yet oddly elegant in its awk wardness. A line of zebras parades across the runway in the giraffe’s wake. In the distance, beneath a bulbous baobab tree, a few representatives of Ruaha’s 10,000 elephants – the largest population of any East African national park – form a protective huddle around their young.

Second only to Katavi in its aura of untrammeled wilderness, but far more accessible, Ruaha protects a vast tract of the rugged, semi-arid bush country that characterizes central Tanzania. Its lifeblood is the Great Ruaha River, which courses along the eastern boundary in a flooded torrent during the height of the rains, but dwindling thereafter to a scattering of precious pools surrounded by a blinding sweep of sand and rock. A fi ne network of game-viewing roads follows the Great Ruaha and its seasonal tributaries, where – during the dry season – impala, water-buck and other antelopes risk their life for a sip of life-sustaining water. And the risk is considerable:

not only from the prides of 20 -plus lion that lord over the Savannah, but also from the cheetahs that stalk the open grassland and the leopards that lurk in tangled riverine thickets. This impressive array of large predators is boosted by both striped and spotted hyena, as well as several conspicuous packs of the highly endangered African wild dog.

Ruaha’s unusually high diversity of antelope is a function of its location, which is transitional to the acacia Savannah of East Africa and the miombo woodland belt of Southern Africa. Grant’s gazelle and lesser kudu occur here at the very south of their range, alongside the miombo-associated sable and roan antelope, and one of East Africa’s largest populations of greater kudu, the park emblem, distinguished by the male’s magnifi cent corkscrew horns. A similar duality is noted in the checklist of 450 birds: the likes of crested barbet – an attractive yellow-and-black bird whose persistent trilling is a characteristic sound of the southern bush – occur in Ruaha alongside central Tanzanian endemics such as the yellow-collared lovebird and ashy starling.

Udzungwa National Park

Brooding and primeval, the forests of Udzungwa seem positively enchanted: a verdant refuge of sunshine-dappled glades enclosed by 30-metre (100 foot) high trees, their buttresses layered with fungi, lichens, mosses and ferns.

Udzungwa is the largest and most biodiverse of a chain of a dozen large forest-swathed mountains that rise majestically from the flat coastal scrub of eastern Tanzania. Known collectively as the Eastern Arc Mountains, this archipelago of isolated massifs has also been dubbed the African Galapagos for its treasure-trove of endemic plants and animals, most familiarly the delicate African violet. Udzungwa alone among the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc has been accorded national park status. It is also unique within Tanzania in that its closed-MASL forest spans altitudes of 250 metres (820 feet) to above 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) without interruption.

Not a conventional game viewing destination, Udzungwa is a magnet for hikers. An excellent network of forest trails includes the popular half-day ramble to Sanje Waterfall, which plunges 170 metres (550 feet) through a misty spray into the forested valley below. The more challenging two-night Mwanihana Trail leads to the high plateau, with its panoramic views over surrounding sugar plantations, before ascending to Mwanihana peak, the second-highest point in the range.

Ornithologists are attracted to Udzungwa for an avian wealth embracing more than 400 species, from the lovely and readily-located green-headed oriole to more than a dozen secretive Eastern Arc endemics. Four bird species are peculiar to Udzungwa, including a forest partridge first discovered in 1991 and more closely related to an Asian genus than to any other African fowl. Of six primate species recorded, the Iringa red colobus and Sanje Crested Mangabey both occur nowhere else in the world – the latter, remarkably, remained

undetected by biologists prior to 1979. Undoubtedly, this great forest has yet to reveal all its treasures: ongoing scientific exploration will surely add to its diverse catalogue of endemics.

Mikumi National Park

Swirls of opaque mist hide the advancing dawn. The first shafts of sun colour the fluffy grass heads rippling across the plain in a russet halo. A herd of zebras, confident in their camouflage at this predatory hour, pose like ballerinas, heads aligned and stripes mergingin flowing motion.

Mikumi National Park abuts the northern border of Africa’s biggest game reserve – the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean.

The open horizons and abundant wildlife of the Mkata Floodplain, the popular centerpiece of Mikumi, draw frequent comparisons to the more famous Serengeti Plains. Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it – from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes, during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favored also by Mikumi’s elephants.

Criss-crossed by a good circuit of game-viewing roads, the Mkata Floodplain is perhaps the most reliable place in Tanzania for sightings of the powerful eland, the world’s largest antelope. The equally impressive greater kudu and sable antelope haunt the miombo-covered foothills of the mountains that rise from the park’s borders. More than 400 bird species have been recorded, with such colourful common residents as the lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated long claw and bateleur eagle joined by a host of European migrants during the rainy season. Hippos are the star attraction of the pair of pools situated 5km north of the main entrance gate, supported by an ever-changing cast of waterbirds.

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Other Destinations

Northern Circuit

Southern Circuit

Western Circuit

What Other Travelers Say

     Excellent  
     Based on 13 reviews 
    
 
 
   
 
 
        
   Aidasas 
 2024-03-26
 
 
  Perfect safari
We were a group of 15 people visiting northern Tanzania, and we have booked two day safari to Tarangire and Ngorongoro with Dare 2 Travel. This was our best decision ! The service was WONDERFUL. Guides / drivers Martin, Simba and Levis were great, told us a lot, and most importantly - were taking safety as nr. 1. Everything exceeded our expectations. I suppose the fact that, at the end of the day, we were already leaving the park, but the driver took extra mile as has spotted a lion and we got one of the best photos, tells a lot. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. You must book through them.
  
 
       
   Vaidas S 
 2024-03-26
 
 
  Great two day safari !
We are so glad we followed the recommendation and used Dare 2 Travel ! We have booked a two day safari which was magnificent. The drivers / guides Simba, Martin and Levis were FANTASTIC. They were professional and most important - very safe drivers. We have received a lot of info and enjoyed every minute of the tour. We also booked a trip to Mataruni waterfall, and the hike was a great one too. Highly recommend !
  
 
       
   Olga K 
 2024-03-25
 
 
  They are the best
Our two days safari, coffee tour and visit to Waterfall in Materuni with this company was perfect! Everything was planned out very well and the communication before/during the trip was really good. We stayed in wonderful accommodation during safari tour. They also help us to buy bus and ferry tickets for next destinations. Good job, dears!
  
 
       
   Tour37518505038 
 2024-01-16
 
 
  A good traveling agency
The trip was mostly amazing. Good organizing and communication overall, but there were 2 slightly stressful situations: hike staff (mandatory) tiping and hotel being unpaid in time. In the end,everything was ok though and we had a great time. Thank you.
  
 
       
   Jan Grashuis 
 2022-07-28
 
 
  Climbing the Kili via the Northern Circuit
We had a great experience in succeeding to climb the Kilimanjaro with this organization. They organized a great and professional team for us and supported us all the way to the summit. We will never forget this adventure.
  
 
       
   rosalie v 
 2022-02-28
 
 
  Killing the Kili
In 2022 hebben we de Kilimanjaro beklommen via de reisorganisatie Better Places en Dare2Travel Consultants. Het was een hele bijzondere ervaring en heel goed verzorgt. De gidsen en porters waren professioneel en zorgen goed voor ons. We voelden ons zelfs VIP's op de berg. Mocht je de Kilimanjaro willen beklimmen, boek dan bij Dare2Travel. Dan weet je zeker dat je in goede handen bent en dat je de top gaat halen. Aanrader!
  
 
       
   Lena Oswald 
 2022-02-28
 
 
  My adventurous climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro
I woke up extremely joyful on the morning of 26th January 2022. I could only picture the adventures that were ahead of me for the next 8 days. The climb was awesome and enjoyable because the hospitality I received from the whole team, from day 1 was exceptional. These are people I got to meet for the first time but they turned out to be the best company which made my climb easy and very memorable. ???? Each one of them played their different roles in supporting me where the climb was tough, ensuring I eat and drink, cracked jocks and trust me, the laughter was one of the ingredients for my good health throughout. They also kept giving me hope and these words helped me a lot as I kept ascending to the top. The food was on point.???? Despite the changes in appetite due to high altitude, I still kept going as the food was suitable for the place. The consultants were also involved despite being on the ground. They kept checking on me through the team to ensure I am in good health and fit to proceed. Thanks Dar 2 Travel Consultants and team, we managed to summit Africa’s highest point on the morning of 01st February 2022 and it was wow. I recommend Dare 2 Travel Consultants because the services they give are just what one needs to accomplish such a lifetime adventure. ????
  
 
       
   l.almog 
 2019-10-21
 
 
  Excellent safari
professional people served us with a big smile all the time . the safari was well organized and they were very attentive to all of our needs .the drivers were very kind and they had a lot of knowledge about everything . I highly recommend.
  
 
       
   SURESH babu 
 2019-02-10
 
 
  Good
The consultants are very helpful to us to make my travel very smoothly.i'm thankful for their care and service
  
 
       
   Glevin 
 2018-09-15
 
 
  Very professional people!
We had great support from Dare2Travel during our expedition to Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro and Safaris. Good guides, good food, great experience. I’d highlight that owners were always in touch to manage any unexpected detail. Very easy to deal with them.