Southern Circuit · 3 days · Private
3-Day Nyerere National Park Boat and Game Drive Safari from Dar es Salaam
The Rufiji river is what makes Nyerere different from every northern park. Three days by road from Dar with a boat safari, a walking safari and game drives among the lakes.
- Duration
- 3 days, 2 nights
- Group
- Private
- Activity
- Boat safari, game drive, walking safari
- Starts
- Dar es Salaam
- Ends
- Dar es Salaam
- Best months
- June to October and January to February. Many camps close in the long rains of March to May.
Nyerere National Park is the largest national park in Africa, carved out of what was the Selous Game Reserve, and the Rufiji river runs through the middle of it. That river is the reason to come. It lets you do two things the northern parks do not allow: go out on the water, and walk.
Why the boat safari matters. A game drive puts you above the animals looking down. A boat puts you at their level, and quiet. You drift past hippo pods, crocodiles on the sandbanks, elephant coming down to drink at the edge, and skimmers working the shallows. On the Rufiji lakes it is often the best two hours of the whole trip.
Who this suits. People starting in Dar es Salaam rather than Arusha, anyone who has done the northern circuit and wants somewhere emptier, and travellers who would rather be on foot and on water than in a vehicle all day. Nyerere is far less visited than Mikumi National Park or the northern parks: you can go most of a game drive without seeing another vehicle.
How this differs from our other Nyerere trips. The 2-day Nyerere fly-in from Zanzibar is a short fly-in for people already on the coast. The 5-day Nyerere and Mikumi safari covers two parks over five days. This one is a road trip from Dar that concentrates on Nyerere alone and puts the boat and the walk at the centre of it. See all our Tanzania safaris or tell us your dates.
Trip highlights
- A boat safari on the Rufiji river and its lakes, at eye level with hippo and crocodile
- A walking safari with an armed ranger, which the northern parks do not permit
- Game drives in Africa’s largest National Park, with very few other vehicles
- Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, lion, and one of the best remaining populations of African wild dog
- Borassus palms, sandbanks and oxbow lakes: a landscape nothing on the northern circuit resembles
- Two nights in a camp on the river rather than a lodge behind a fence
Day by day
Day 1 Dar es Salaam to the Rufiji
Leave Dar after breakfast and drive south-west, roughly five to six hours with a lunch stop. Enter the park in the afternoon and take a game drive on the way in to camp. Dinner and the first night on the river.
Meals: Lunch, dinner
Day 2 game drive, walking safari and the boat
Out at first light for the morning game drive among the lakes, when the cats are still moving. Back to camp through the heat of the day. Mid-afternoon, a walking safari with an armed ranger, then onto the water for the boat safari and sunset on the Rufiji.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 a last drive and back to Dar
An early game drive out through the park, then the road north to Dar es Salaam, arriving in the late afternoon. We can drop you at your hotel, at the airport or at the Zanzibar ferry terminal.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
What is included
Included
- Pickup and drop-off in Dar es Salaam
- Private 4x4 with a roof hatch, fuel and a licensed English-speaking driver-guide
- Two nights’ accommodation in Nyerere National Park
- All meals as listed in the itinerary
- Nyerere National Park entry fees, concession fees and government levies
- Rufiji river boat safari
- Armed ranger fee for the walking safari
- Drinking water throughout
Not included
- International and domestic flights unless stated in the itinerary
- Visa and travel insurance
- Drinks other than the water provided
- Tips for your guide and camp staff
- Anything personal
Before you travel
Pickup and meeting point
We collect you from your hotel in Dar es Salaam, or from Julius Nyerere International Airport if you are arriving the same morning. Give us the property name and your flight details when you book and we confirm the pickup time the evening before.
What to bring
Neutral-coloured clothing for the walking safari, long sleeves and long trousers. Closed walking shoes. A hat, sunglasses and strong sunscreen. Binoculars. Insect repellent and long sleeves for dusk; this is a malaria area and you should take prophylaxis. A warm layer for the early game drive.
Safety
Inside the park you stay in the vehicle except at marked picnic sites and toilets. Your guide will say when it is safe to stand through the roof hatch. Do not feed or approach any animal, baboons included. Camps in the southern parks are unfenced: after dark you are escorted between your tent and the mess area, and you do not walk alone. Boats carry buoyancy aids for everyone on board and we ask that children wear one for the whole trip. Tell your guide before departure if anyone is not a confident swimmer. Sea conditions decide whether a trip runs; if the captain calls it off we move you to another day or refund the trip, and that decision is not negotiable. You travel in a maintained 4x4 with a licensed Tanzanian driver-guide. Seat belts are fitted in every seat. We carry a first aid kit and drinking water. Travel insurance is not included and we recommend you arrange it before you come.
Questions about this trip
How long is the drive from Dar es Salaam?
Five to six hours to the park, on a mix of tarmac and gravel. If you would rather fly, there are scheduled light aircraft into the park airstrips and we will quote a fly-in version instead.
Is Nyerere the same as the Selous?
Nyerere National Park was created in 2019 from the northern part of the Selous Game Reserve, which is the part everyone was visiting. The name changed; the place did not.
What is the boat safari actually like?
Two hours or so on the Rufiji and its lakes in a small open boat with a guide. Hippo, crocodile, elephant and buffalo on the banks, and a great deal of birdlife. It is slow, quiet and usually the part people talk about afterwards.
Will we see wild dog?
Nyerere holds one of the largest remaining populations in Africa, so your chances here are better than almost anywhere. That is still not a promise. They range enormously and no guide can produce them on request.
When should we not go?
March to May is the long rains. Roads inside the park become difficult and several camps close. We will tell you if your dates fall in that window rather than take the booking.
Other trips in this circuit
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6-Day Southern Circuit Safari: Mikumi, Udzungwa and Nyerere
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Where this trip goes
Zanzibar
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Nyerere National Park
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Mikumi National Park
Mikumi covers 3,230 square kilometres and borders Nyerere National Park. Open Mkata floodplain, elephant, buffalo and over 400…
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