Mikumi National Park

Mikumi National Park (1964), Tanzania'S Fourth Largest Park And The Closest To Dar Es Salaam, With The Highway Cutting Through. Home To Elephants, Giraffes, Zebras, Buffalo, Hippos And Lions On The Mkata Floodplain, With A Hippo Pool. Reached By Road Or Train On The Tazara Line, And A Standard Start To The Southern Circuit. · Mikumi, Morogoro

Mikumi is a savanna park of about 3,230 sq km, the fourth largest in Tanzania, set on the Mkata floodplain with the Uluguru and Udzungwa mountains as a blue backdrop. Elephants, Masai giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, impala, eland, buffalo and hippos live in the open, lions often rest on rocks, and over 400 bird species include bee-eaters and the yellow-throated longclaw. The honest picture: the A7 Tanzam highway runs straight through the park, so trucks pass animals at speed and roadkill is a real problem. It is a convenient first safari for Dar es Salaam residents and budget travellers, not a world-class park, and the wildlife is less dense than in the north. Getting there takes 4-5 hours by road, about 300 km. Stay a night, drive slowly and pick a lodge by the plain. Fees are charged per day and per vehicle, so plan the hours you will really use. The park suits a weekend from Dar es Salaam, or a first stop on the way to Udzungwa and the south. Expect other visitors mainly on holiday weekends, when lodges fill.

Savanna park of about 3,230 sq km straddling the Tanzam highway about 300 km west of Dar es Salaam at the town of Mikumi, with the Mkata floodplain and the Uluguru and Uzungwa mountains as a backdrop, Mikumi, Morogoro, Tanzania

The park is open every day of the year, and the gates take entries in daylight hours only. Night drives are NOT allowed inside the park, though some lodges outside the boundary offer them. Black cotton soil tracks can be CLOSED in the heavy rains. Confirm gate times and track conditions locally.

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