Africa Safari Selous
Banda and bungalow lodge with two pools · Near the Rufiji and Mtemere airstrip · Beach Safari (Paradise & Wilderness Group)
Budget
Outside the gate
Safari company
The biggest lodge on the Nyerere circuit and the only sizeable one that never closes, a few minutes from Mtemere airstrip. It is a package lodge rather than a small camp, which is exactly what you want if your dates fall between March and May when almost everything else shuts. Watch the pricing: the large numbers in the brochures are multi-night packages with flights, not per-night rates.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Open every month of the year, including the rains
- Pool bungalows sleep 4 to 6 with bunk beds for kids
- Two pools plus free wifi at the restaurant and bar
- By far the largest property on this list, over fifty rooms
- Only minutes from Mtemere airstrip, 8 km away
Cons
- No self-drive game drives; jeeps come with a guide only
- Package pricing online is often confused with the nightly rate
- We found no child policy beyond the Pool Bungalow bed layout
- Two tents at the budget end share facilities
What's here
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Boat trips
Read from Africa Safari Selous's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Nyerere National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entry$70 plus 18% VAT, charged per 24 hours.
- $82.6per person, per day
- Vehicle$40 plus VAT for a foreign-registered vehicle up to 2,000 kg; above that, where most safari 4x4s sit, it is $150 plus VAT.
- $47.2per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $637.2 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
The full fee schedule for Nyerere National ParkRates at Africa Safari Selous
From about $90 pppn. Roughly $90 to $180 full board. The $915 to $2,194 figures quoted around the web are multi-night packages including flights, transfers and park fees, not nightly rates.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Indicative 2026 rates gathered in July 2026 from operators' own rate cards, and from the best third-party sources where an operator publishes nothing at all. No published rate means 'on request'. Always confirm with the property. Two things shift the real comparison in this park. First, park fees are extra almost everywhere: a camp inside the boundary carries the $82.60 conservation fee plus a $59.00 to $70.80 concession fee per adult per night, both including VAT, and most in-park camps bundle these into an all-inclusive rate while the camps outside the gate charge entry, boat and walking fees separately on the days you go in. Second, ignore any camp still advertising night game drives: they are not permitted inside the national park since the 2019 regazettement. Names you may still find in older guides but that we do not list: Azura Selous, which appears permanently closed, plus Selous Kulinda, Ol Moran, Jimbiza Lodge, Selous Great Water, Selous Mbuyu, Selous Mapumziko, The Retreat Selous and Amara Selous, none of which we could verify as currently trading.
Questions about Africa Safari Selous
Is Africa Safari Selous good for families?
We found no stated minimum age, but the lodge's own site lists Pool Bungalows for four to six guests with a king bed plus one or two bunk beds, which works well for a family. Breakfast is included; half-board and full-board meal plans cost extra.
Can you self-drive at Africa Safari Selous?
Not for game drives. The lodge's own site is explicit: open four-wheel-drive jeeps are available for hire but not for self-drive, so a guide always comes with the vehicle. The lodge sits just 8 kilometres, about 15 minutes by vehicle, from Mtemere airstrip.
What does the rate at Africa Safari Selous include?
The nightly rate runs roughly $90 to $180 full board, according to the park record. The lodge's own site confirms breakfast comes with every booking, with half-board or full-board as upgrades. The much larger figures sometimes quoted online are multi-night packages that bundle flights and transfers, not a nightly rate.
When is Africa Safari Selous open?
Year-round. The lodge's own site states it operates throughout the year, including April and May, when almost every other camp in the park closes for the rains. That makes it one of the few reliable options if your dates fall in the wet season.