2-Day Mikumi National Park Safari

This two-day Mikumi safari is the fastest, easiest way to step from the city of Dar es Salaam into a genuine Tanzanian wildlife park. Mikumi is the fourth-largest national park in the country, sits between the Uluguru Mountains and the Lumango range, and centres on the open Mkata Floodplain, an area so similar to the Serengeti that guides call it the little Serengeti. Two days is enough time to see elephant, lion, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, eland and, with luck, tree-climbing lion, plus a strong slice of the park's 400+ bird species.

The trip begins with an early morning pick-up from your Dar es Salaam hotel and a road transfer of four to five hours (or, if you prefer, the 1.5-hour SGR train to Morogoro and a shorter road transfer from there). You reach the park gate around midday, check in at a lodge on the park edge, take lunch, and head straight out for the first game drive of the trip. Late-afternoon light on the Mkata plains is the best of the day, with predators beginning to move as the plains cool.

Day two is built around a long game drive from sunrise, covering the Mkata floodplain, the Hippo Pool where hippos wallow and crocodiles bask on the bank, and the Chamgore area known locally as the place of pythons. A packed lunch is served in the park before the drive back to Dar in the afternoon, or a road transfer forward to Nyerere, Zanzibar or Udzungwa for a longer trip.

This safari is designed for travellers with limited time, cruise passengers, business travellers in Dar, and families who want a genuine national-park experience without the flight cost of the northern circuit. Departures run all year round; the dry months of June to October give the best wildlife concentrations, while the November to May green season delivers lush scenery and outstanding birding.