Within easy access of Dar es Salaam, a Mikumi offers a great range of wildlife with some stunning scenery.

Mikumi National Park lies 300 km west of Dar-es-Salaam, nestled between the Uruguru mountains to the east and the Rift Valley escarpments to the south west. With only a 4-hour drive along a very good tarmac road, a tailor made Mikumi safari is a great option for those who only have a short time in which to fit in a safari holiday. Although be warned, this relatively busy road does run straight through the park, meaning you don’t have that ‘off the beaten track’ feeling.

Despite being a relatively small park, Mikumi borders the vast Selous Game Reserve to the south allowing movement of a high volumes of game to pass between the two areas. During the dry season (June to October) the wildlife concentrates around watering holes and rivers, making game viewing easy. During the wet season, the bird life becomes very impressive with over 400 species recorded.

Mikumi National Park is well known for its healthy populations of elephant and buffalo, which can easily be spotted out on the plains. The tamarind trees are a favourite of elephants and giraffes who can spend hours eating the fruits. The park is also home to lion, leopard, zebras, wild dogs, pythons, hartebeest, wildebeest, impala, warthog, eland and other antelope.

Udzungwa Mountains

The Udzungwa Mountains National Park is covered by 2,000 km² of thick forest and has one of the highest occurring rates of species endemism in the world. There are no roads in the park, so the only way to see the multitude of unique plants, birds and animals is on foot on full day exploratory walks on one of the many nature trails. Udzungwa day trips are superb for bird watching and hiking.