Mikumi National Park

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 Mbeya through 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.  The open horizons and abundant wildlife of the Mkata Floodplain, the popular center piece of Mikumi, draw frequent comparisons to the more famous Serengeti Plains. 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 stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favored also by Mikumi’s elephants.