Nyerere National Park was gazetted in 2019 from the northern section of the Selous Game Reserve — the part historically used for photographic safaris. At roughly 30,000 square kilometres it ranks among the largest national parks on the continent. Visitors will still encounter both names in use.
The Rufiji is the defining feature. The river spreads into a maze of channels, oxbow lakes and sandbanks, and boat safaris here are genuinely world-class: enormous hippo pods, crocodile on every bank, elephant coming down to drink at dusk, and African skimmers working the shallows.
Walking safaris with an armed ranger are permitted, which they are not in most northern-circuit parks. Game density is lower than the Serengeti, but the combination of boat, vehicle and foot — with almost no other vehicles — makes it a fundamentally different safari rather than a lesser one.