Beho Beho

Beho Beho is an intimate bush camp perched on a hillside above the Rufiji River floodplain in the heart of Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous Game Reserve), Tanzania. The first permanent camp ever established in the reserve, it is uniquely sited not on the riverbanks but on the cooler highland above — its Swahili name meaning "cooling breezes." Owned by the Bailey family for more than four decades, Beho Beho has always been a private home before it was ever a camp. With just eight individually styled stone-and-thatch bandas accommodating a maximum of sixteen guests, the experience is deeply personal. Seven Main Camp bandas offer sweeping views over the Rufiji floodplain and indigenous forest, each with a private plunge pool and verandah. Bailey's Banda is an exclusive hillside villa with its own kitchen, chef, safari vehicle, and dedicated guides — an entirely private corner of Beho Beho for families or small groups seeking complete seclusion. The safari experience here extends well beyond the conventional game drive. Morning and afternoon outings in open 4WD vehicles traverse some of Africa's most biodiverse terrain, led by qualified guides who share meals and stories with guests. Walking safaris with armed rangers offer an extraordinary intimacy with the bush, while a morning boat excursion to Lake Tagalala brings close encounters with hippos, crocodiles, and an exceptional variety of water birds. Fly-camping under the stars is also possible for the more adventurous. Nyerere National Park is one of Africa's best-kept secrets — vast, wild, and refreshingly free from the crowded circuits of the north. Wildlife roams freely across more than seven million acres, and no two days are ever alike. Beho Beho is reached by a 45-minute light-aircraft flight from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar, landing at the camp's own private airstrip just five minutes from the main house. The camp operates seasonally from 1 June to 14 March, and with so few beds, availability is limited. For travellers seeking a remote, family-run safari home where the guiding is exceptional and the wilderness genuinely untamed, Beho Beho remains in a class of its own.