This is Tanzania’s fourth-largest National park located between the Uluguru Mountains and the Lumango range, mostly accessible from Dar es Salaam. With almost guaranteed wildlife sightings, it makes an ideal safari destination for those without much time.
Bordering the Selous Game Reserve, the park offers a wide variety of wildlife and its open horizons make sightings easy to come by.
You will never be disappointed if you hope for a glimpse of the renowned “Big Five” (Lion, Cheetah, Elephant, Buffalo and Rhino). Also you can get up close to hippos as they wallow in the muddy pools, and for those keen bird-watchers will be richly rewarded with over 400 colorful species.
The centerpiece of Mikumi is the Mkata Floodplain, where you can watch herds of Zebras grazing in the rising sun, while Giraffes tend to favor the shade of the Acacia around the Mkata River. The floodplain has also been hailed as possibly the most reliable place in Tanzania for spotting the world’s largest antelope, the impressive Eland. All of this is surveyed by the languid Lions, who you might see resting on the flattened tops of termite mounds or up in the branches of the trees.
About Mikumi National Park
Size: 3,230 sq km (1,250 sq miles), the fourth-largest national park in Tanzania, and part of a much larger ecosystem centred on the uniquely vast Selous Game Reserve.
Location: 283 km (175 miles) west of Dar es Salaam, north of Selous, and en route to Ruaha, Udzungwa and (for the intrepid) Katavi.
