THREE DAYS MIKUMI SAFARI 

If you want a real bush experience, then you should include some of the parks of the Southern Circuit in your itinerary. Here you can spend more time in “private” with the wild animals of Africa.

Most safaris in Tanzania include parks in the north of the country, such as the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater. But Tanzania's southern parks are more of the right choice, if you want to travel of the beaten tracks, into the real wilderness, and to get a feeling of the real authentic Africa.

The southern national parks offer a truly wild experience. If you're flying into Dar es Salaam, then Mikumi National Park is easily accessible by road. Gigantic Selous Game Reserve, the home of the many hippos and crocodiles, is also very accessible by road or small planes.

THREE DAYS SAFARI TO MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK
This trip takes you to the park which is easiest to access from Dar es Salaam. A five-hour drive on tarmac takes you straight to the gate of Mikumi National Park where you can see elephants, lions, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, elands, greater kudu, wildebeest, roan, hippos and sable antelope. The open plains surrounded by mountains is making a beautiful scenery, and the peak of the day is usually by the hippo pool as the sunset is painting the skies in beautiful colors inspiring both professional and hobby photographers.

·         Starting point and starting time – Anywhere you wish to be picked up in Dar.

·         Is it every day possible – yes

·         Is it private – yes

·         How long is it – three days

·         How hard is it – easy

·         Suitable for all ages – yes, children will love it as they can move around inside the car, they get to stand up in the seats

·         Guided or not – Guided, English – other languages upon request for an extra fee

·         What should the clients bring – Money, passport, sunglasses, sunscreen, soft bag with the needed clothes for the duration of your safari

·         What to wear – socks and shoes, as you will have lunch in the bush, and there might be a few safari ants which can bite if you are not wearing. Also, please mind the strong sun, especially the months from November to March, and it may be rough on your shoulders you may dress accordingly. From May to September it may be a bit chilly in the evenings and early mornings.

·         Mode of transport – 4x4 car with hatch in the roof ideal for the game viewing

·         What is drop-off point – Where you stay

Day 1

Leaving town in the morning we take you for about 5 hours’ drive to Mikumi National Park where you go for a tasteful lunch with a view of the open fields where animals are strolling around throughout the day. After lunch you go for an afternoon game drive and enjoy the wild animals as you are driving around Mikumi, Tanzania’s fourth largest national park, often referred to as little Serengeti as the area of Mkata flood plains which resembles the world-famous savannahs of Serengeti.

Destination: Mikumi National Park

Accommodation: Mikumi Wildlife Camp

Day 2

Full day Game drive in Mikumi National Park. Enjoy the full day in Mikumi National park where the animals are roaming the open plains and lions are hiding in the bush. You may go back to the lodge for lunch, or bring a packed lunch if you wish to spend the whole day in the park. Agree with your driver, per today’s temperature, weather and what you like to experience. Before sunset you are back at the lodge enjoying a nice sunset.

Destination: Mikumi National Park

Accommodation: Mikumi Wildlife Camp

Day 3

This day you start early in the morning with some fruits, biscuits and some coffee or tea before you head back into the wild before even the birds wake up. This is the best chance to find the nocturnal animals, and some people may be lucky enough to find them “in action” hunting or eating at these hours. Around eight or nine you go back to the lodge for breakfast (if you did not bring it with you). After breakfast, you go back into the wild for a couple of hours before you head back to Dar es Salaam. You must leave Mikumi National Park at midday to be back in Dar es Salaam before dark.

Recommendation:

Add one more night to do both a full day game drive in Mikumi and do the Udzungwa walk.

NETT Price per person sharing:

1 person
2 people
3 people
4 people
5 people
6 people
$1455
$1055
$845
$770
$730
$705
 

Single supplement:                       $15/night and person

Included in the price:

·  Accommodation

·  One full and two half days’ safari

·  Alternative to change the full day safari to go to Udzungwa and sundowner game drive.

·  Transport

·  Park fees

·  Drinking water in the car during the game drive

·  English speaking driver/guide

·  Medical evacuation insurance

·  Meals from lunch the first day including lunch the last day

NOT included in the price:

·  Tips

·  Drinks

·  Expenses of personal nature, laundry, telephone calls etc.

·  International airfares and Visa entry to Tanzania and travel insurance

MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK

4 to 5 hours’ drive on comfortable roads will take you to this diverse park, which have most of the wildlife available.

A visit Mikumi National can easily be combined with hiking in the rainforests of Udzungwa Mountains National Park, or a couple of days in the gigantic Selous Game Reserve. Selous Game Reserve and Mikumi National Park are bordering each other. Further Mikumi National Park is split by a surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. In other words, Mikumi National Park is a very accessible national park that attracts many visitors from all over the world. The National Park of Mikumi is also known as “The little Serengeti”.

Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it – from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes, during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia woods along the Mkata River, giving shade also favoured by Mikumi's elephants.

The Mkata Floodplain, located in Mikumi National Park, is perhaps the most reliable place in Tanzania for sightings of the powerful eland, the world’s largest antelope. The equally impressive greater kudu and sable antelope can be spotted on the miombo-covered foothills of the mountains that rise from the park’s borders.

More than 400 bird species have been recorded, with such colourful common residents as the lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated longclaw and bateleur eagle joined by a host of European migrants during the rainy season. Hippos are the star attraction of the pair of pools situated 5km north of the main entrance gate, supported by an ever-changing cast of water birds.

Park facts

Size: 3,230 sq km (1,250 sq miles), the fourth-largest 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 really adventurous) Katavi National Park.

How to get there: A good surfaced road connects Mikumi to Dar es Salaam via Morogoro, a roughly 5 hour drive. Scheduled flights from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar or Selous.

What to do: Game drives and guided walks. Snake park in Mikumi village. You should visit nearby Udzungwa Mountains, or travel on for more wildlife safari in Selous or Ruaha.

When to go: Accessible all year round.