Beho Beho
Location - Good game, fairly quiet area but no access to the Rufiji
Accommodation - superb bush camp with 8 cottages
Experience - Good game with superb guides, limited river access.
Price Guide - $1025 - 1375 pppn
Beho Beho has, in the last few years, been transformed from the obscure hobby of an eccentric Welsh family to become one of the best small lodges in Tanzania. It's small, still privately owned and immaculately run. It seems hardly possible that until only a few years ago it was hardly visited at all, other than by members of the family or friends of 'Mr Majembe', the charismatic manager who presided gleefully over the chaos. Read more?
These days Beho Beho has been transformed into a shining example of what a camp should be all about and it's sometimes hard to get space there at all. With a series of highly experienced managers, who also happened to be highly accomplished guides, Beho Beho has managed to deliver on the qualities that are hardest for any camp to achieve; impeccable standards and superb guiding. Add to this the fact that the place has been beautifully decorated and that they seem to know a thing or two about cooking here...and you begin to see why it's so popular.
The camp sits on the side of Namikwere Hill in the northern Selous, overlooking the Beho Beho River from which it gets its name. One thing you need to be aware of when coming here is that you're not going to be looking over miles of steadily flowing water as at many of the other camps. Try Sand Rivers if this what you're after. The Beho Beho River is not the Rufiji River, but a sand river lined in places with an almost impenetrable thatch of borassis and doum palm.
However, it's a veritable magnet for animals, with plentiful big game; elephant, hippo and lion in particular. What's more the whole area is scenically beautiful and little used by other camps. The plains further to the north are in stark contrast with much of the thick bush of the Selous; wide and expansive short grass plains scattered with dalbergia (African blackwood) trees and good concentrations of game.
Beho Beho has 10 stone and thatch cottages, which are vast and exquisitely decorated with old colonial pieces, pictures and Persian rugs. The beds are huge four posters with a mountain of soft down pillows so, despite the racket that the animals will no doubt be making outside, you can't fail but have a good nights sleep.
In addition they have their own form of 'flycamping for softies' which they've packaged up as 'Bush Nights'. This gives people the chance to experience a degree of isolation and that 'wilderness tingle' that no lodge itself can really deliver. Basically a tented camp with knobs on this is perfect for those who need a 'raw bush moment' to brag about back home but are too terrified to do it properly.
Location - Selous
Vast remote and wild, the Selous is the largest game reserve in Africa and a dramatic contrast to other parks in Tanzania in almost every way. It’s one of Tanzania's lesser known destinations, but offers a grass roots level of experience that few other places can equal. It's also home to an intriguing diversity both in terms of animal life and variety of experience on offer. Jump to page?
More articles that you might find helpful
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