The Selous ecosystem encompasses a wide spectrum of wildlife habitats including open grasslands, miombo woodlands that cover three-quarters of the reserve, and riverine forests. As a result of its unique ecological importance, the Selous was declared a World Heritage Site in 1982.

The northern sector, where high-paying visitors are encouraged, contains all three types of habitat. Open grarssland supports such species as wildebeest and zebra. In the miombo woodlands draping the mountains and ridges around Beho Beho and Stiegler's Gorge, the visitor may see Greater Kudu and Roosevelt's sable. In the riverine thickets with their plentiful Borassus palms, elephants, hippopotamus, antelope and crocodiles are found.

The birdlife of the Selous is spectacular. The ever-changing course of the Rufiji River with its many sandbanks, lakes lagoons and islands draws many waterbirds. A safari by riverboat is highly recommended. Bird specialist may see the White-headed lapwing along the Rufiji River and the rare White-collared pratincole on fast flowing sections of the river. Pels fishing owls are more likely to be heard at night than seen and the White-backed night heron is another elusive, nocturnal species. Racguet-tailed rollers are the be found outside the Miombo country as well as Thickbilled cuckoo.

Much of the northern Selous is set aside for photographic tourism. This area contains the greatest numbers of wildlife and is the most beautiful part of the ecosystem. To the east is the reserve's boundary, to the west Steigler's Gorge and the road to the headquarters at Matambwe, while to the south is the Rufiji River.

Amazingly, the reserve only receives about 2 000 visitors a year. And although you will travel to the largest conservation area in Africa on a Selous safari, only the northern section of the park is available to tourists. Much of the reserve is dedicated to private hunting concessions and scientific research.

Despite this, the public portion of Selous is marvellously evocative, featuring a series of five interconnected lakes filled by the Rufiji river, which meanders through the reserve, hemmed in by the dense miombo woodlands on its shores.

The defining feature of the Selous is the great Rufiji River, which naturally splits the ecosystem into two distinct parts. Stiegler's Gorge, 100m deep and 100m wide, is a magnificent natural feature with a rickety, gut-wrenching cable car that ferries safari vehicles across the river - not for the faint of heart.

While the bulk of the reserve is miombo woodland, there are sections of magnificent grass plains, wetlands and swamps and areas of dense canopy forest. Perhaps the most sublime way of exploring the reserve is by boat, meandering through channels and swamps, and exploring hidden lagoons. Navigating the network of lakes and rivers in a boat offers you an unusual view of game. There are sandbanks crowded with huge crocodiles; exposed mud banks under red clouds of carmine bee-eaters, and swampy islands visited by wandering elephants.

In the Beho Beho section of the reserve, the hot springs at Maji Moto (said to be the source of the water used in the Maji Maji Rebellion) is a great place to soak away the dust and bruises of overland safari travel. However, immersing yourself in the waters of nearby Lake Tagalala is not allowed thanks to the massive (and hungry) crocodiles that live there.

Also in the Beho Beho area is the simple grave of Captain Frederick Courteney Selous, the British hunter, soldier, naturalist and great eccentric who gave the reserve its name. When World War I broke out, he came out of retirement at the age of 63, left his native Surrey, and went back to his beloved Africa to command one of the most extraordinary units of that war - a ragtag guerrilla unit of French Legionnaires, cowboys from Texas, tough southern African hunters, Russian émigrés, acrobats and a Honduran general. Here he waged war against the equally legendary General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, enduring incredible privations during the campaign. He was killed by a sniper's bullet in 1917, an event later mourned by von Lettow-Vorbeck as being an "ungentlemanly way" to end Selous' life.