Mikumi National Park

Swirls of opaque mist hide the advancing dawn. The first shafts of sun colour the fluffy grass heads rippling across the plain in a russet halo. A herd of zebras, confident in their camouflage at this predatory hour, pose like ballerinas, heads aligned and stripes merging in flowing motion.

Mikumi National Park abuts the northern border of Africa's biggest game reserve - the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean.

Great experience in Mikumi!

We went on a 3-day safari in Mikumi National Park and it was a perfect safari experience. It is only about a 5-hour drive from Dar (it all depends on traffic--Fridays and Mondays take longer) but there were not many tourists once we got there, so you have the park to yourself to track down various animals. We were lucky enough to see male lions, female lions and their cubs as well as any other animal you could think of including birds! We saw elephants in a watering hole as well as hippos at another watering hole where you could get out and walk around. The park was beautiful and well-maintained. It stormed one night but overall the weather was perfect and the cloud formations out on the plains made for amazing photographs. There were one or two nice lodges (with restaurants) as well as outdoor camping options and cabin-type accommodations (with a small kitchen and local cooks associated with it). Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and it's a great alternative to flying all the way to Arusha just for a short safari.

An excellent tour with Mnyau M. Abi

We booked our tour with Mr. Mnyau M. Abi (0686085022) from Das Es Salaam and went there by bus. Mr. Abi waited for us at the bus station and from that moment we were in very safe hands. With him we went to the national park where we made very beautifull pictures because he drew very near at the animals (even the lions). Also he knew the answers to alle our questions on the park. In the park where only 3 other cars and there were very many young animals. The next day we went to the Sanje waterfalls in Udzungwa Mountains National Park. At the top of te waterfalls we had an excellent vieuw and saw the rare apes. Mr. Abi took care of our breakfest, lunch and accommadation (of course after which we made clear our desires) and even took care that we got the tickets and the right bus back to Dar (he got the faretickets which we could not get at the bus station). It was for me and my wife a very relaxed tour in which we saw and experienced more than we had expected.

Good and nice park with good wild life standard

A good park with enough wildlife to see. Very natural and not to crowded with a lot of tourist of cars.

We encountered ellies, hippos, and lot of of other game. sadly we couldn´t see any cats, but we had only one day there. The birdlife was crazy.

Great park, just feels a little bit like an open zoo.

Superb views and wildlife. It did feel a little bit like an open zoo as there were certain pathways to follow and not allowed offroad, even some well defined tracks were off limits. It made getting close to the animals to get a good pic difficult. However, there were a lot of animals and we were even lucky to see two lionesses on the road! We paid the tour operator so not sure how much it costs for entry. Worth it if you have limited time in Dar Es Salam as it can be done as a day tour opposed to 2-3 day tours for other parks.

Small park and not really my favorite spots. Wildlife can be scarce like birds. Beware of Tzetze flies

Great bang for your buck park and easy to access from Dar es Salaam. The highway passing through the park is strange, but for a budget price you are potentially able to see some predators and herds passing over from Selous.

It is a small park too close to the human populated areas and the big road that crosses it spoils the great environment of the Morogoro area.

An amazing experience

Our 2 day safari was beyond our expectations. We knew that March was not the best time of the year for a safari but we were lucky with the weather and therefore saw all the wildlife. The scenery at Mikumi was outstanding. Our accommodation at Mikumi safari lodge was of a high standard and the staff could not do enough for us. Our guide Rama spoke good english and was a wizz at finding lions.