One would think I enjoy a nature park with animals and on paper the vast area is extremely impressive. However, there are so many problems with the park.

For one it's now called Nyerere after the Tanzanian hero rather the British big game hunter Selous (Seluuu) although everyone still calls it Selous around here. I also saw a map in the management office that splits up the park so technically Selous Game Hunting area (yes, HUNTING!) is south of the river to the edge of the park. The west side is Nyerere NP whereas the park area you will visit is an extra territory all together.

Basically the tourist area is really small. From one gate to another is 70km or so and the circuits around the sides aren't too big. Some are even private due to lodges and villages. You can still easily spend a day driving around.

It's easy to get to Selous actually despite what other reviews say. It's NOT an easy drive from Dar Es Salaam although I did it in 4h rather than the 6½h going the long way on paved road. However, don't do a self drive. Actually don't do a self drive in Tanzania in general. It's not worth it. You can hire a guide with professional safari jeep for decent prices and you get so much more out of it. My Prado even had issues getting around the tall grass where the lions hang out and this was dry season. 99.999% of tourists fly into the airstrip just at the gate, get picked up and immediately start their game drive. It's so easy and smooth, why would you bother with expensive rental, Tanzanian roads, police checkpoints, petrol (no gas around the west side of the park although one station is about to open), risk car damage and don't forget the drive back!! So unfortunately I did do alll that, had to pay extra to get gas delivered to me, then later figured the road west out of the park is faster towards Moro but it's not an easy drive (there were some shifty gas stations though). Once again, don't. As much as you love self driving for flexibility or prestige etc just fly in and go on a tour. You save money not staying at the expensive lodges and save soooo much time.

As for the wildlife, didn't see as much as expected. Elephants are rare. In fact their numbers dwindled so much it's crazy. Lions were around, giraffes, many birds, sometimes zebras and definitely the usual suspects like wildebeest, nile crocodiles and hippos. Rhinos are going to be impossible to sight in the northern section of the park. The entire southern part of the park is unofficially open for poaching, they say it's in cahoots with the local authority. The number has dwindled so much that the site is in danger due to poaching and I think it should be delisted not just for that.

UNESCO also approved of the site boundaries to change to allow uranium mining. While I have seen this done in other sites that's alright a bad start. Second is the poaching, third is encroachment because local cattle drivers will just go in the park (not the touristy part) and every morning I saw them across the river. Fourth has to be the horrible management because I wonder what they do for protection. The park definitely makes money from all the tourists and with some investment into the road from Dar Es Salaam there would be more income for the local lodges. I was the only guest at my lodge and afterwards there was a week downtime before the next guests would arrive. It's also possible to stay in a lodge within the park by the way, which might be better anyway.

So in summary I believe there is nothing unique about the endangered park that had so much eroded already. You can do a game drive in any random national park around Tanzania and see similar stuff. No wonder more tourists enjoy the northern parks more.