Mikumi NP

View of Mkati dam

Read about our trips to Mikumi:
Easter 2012: Our first impressions, and our 1st big pride
October 2012: Fantastic action between lions and buffaloes
Easter 2013: Camping for the 1st time in Mikumi
April 2013: A long weekend and a nice surprise
October 2013: Mikumi keeps on delivering 
December 2013: A long weekend away
January 2014: 1st trip of the new year 
April 2014: A quick trip that ended up costing another trip 
May 2014: The lions of the village
January 2016: Back to Mikumi
January 2016: Another January trip
October 2016: The dry season in Mikumi


Overview
The 4th largest national park in Tanzania, covering 1070 km2, it was hastily gazetted in 1964 to tackle the poaching that had become rife because of the building of the Tanzania - Zambia highway. 

Although the park's entrance and most of the accommodation is almost right next to the highway (think hearing trucks instead of lions at night), Mikumi has a suprising lot to offer - buffalo, giraffe, zebra and elephant are easily seen, and supports quite a number of lions. With over 400 bird species recorded, there's plenty for the birdwatcher as well - look out for the Yellow-throated Longclaw.

Plenty of impala around

Wildlife viewing
The north of the park  supports an enormous floodplain, but there's also plenty of woodland. Just beware the tsetse flies, they have a painful bite!
Get game driving early in the morning to avoid the stack of bus tours which come from Morogoro (the closest large town an hour's drive away) and head north to Mwanambogo dam, or west to the Hippo pools, which is only a few kms from the entrance.  We've seen 4 of the big 5 there (no rhinos), and had especially good luck with lion, including a buffalo hunt. From what we've seen, we estimate about 3 or 4 prides in the park.  There are plenty of big herds of buffalo and elephant around, and are pretty chilled out.  Zebra and antelope are also plentiful.

Getting there
The park is about 300km from Dar on the main highway between Tanzania and Zambia.  It's tarmac all the way, and traveling time is dependent on what time you leave Dar, usually about 4 hours if you get out before the main traffic and slow down at all the villages to obey the 50km/h rule. (beware - all traffic police now have speed guns now and happily use them!)

Roads in the park
While the roads are no real problem in the dry, you'll need a 4WD to negotiate some of the bogs in the wet, and that's no guarantee you'll get through - alot of the roads are through the marsh, so they get very tricky after a bit of rain! Having said that, the main roads are calcrete, so if you stick to the main game viewing areas, it shouldn't be a problem. 

Elephant herd on the plains

Accommodation
The choice of accommodation near the gate ranges from a public campsite to a wildlife lodge, though the most economical being the park run bandas and resthouse. There is also a lodge in the north (Fox Treks Camp) and a lodge south of the highway called Vuma Hills Lodge.

We don't know anything about the last 2 lodges, but we stopped to check out the wildlife lodge, and their view is fantastic - all their cottages and the restaurant overlook the plains, and since they have 2 pumped waterholes just outside, during the dry season it'll be the place to sit and watch wildlife coming to quench their thirst. If you like to chill out instead of game driving, this is the place to sit and wait for the game to come to you.  It's quite pricy though, and is right next to the main gate and highway.

Croc at Hippo Pool

On our first trip we stayed at the park run bandas. Costing almost the same as a campsite, it's definitely the better option, with a room, en-suite bathroom and warm water (and air-con while the generator is running!) . While you don't get a view, we did have elephants grazing around there one night.  There's a small very basic restaurant which caters for the bandas as there are no cooking facilities. 

Our second trip, we stayed at the resthouse, which we'd pick as a first choice.  Basically a house with a small kitchen and 2 bedrooms with attached bathrooms, so handy for a family. (If you're only a couple, then you run the risk of someone else rocking up and sharing with you) It's set away from the bandas, so a bit more of a bush experience and we had leopard, genet and a lioness all visit through the night, as well as antelope and elephant come to drink at a little waterhole about 50m away - pretty cool :)

There is also accommodation outside the park, in the village of Mikumi, which is quite popular.  And there should be plenty of lodges in Morogoro, but that's about an hour away from the gate. 

Lions in the morning

Camping facilities
Need to be fully geared.
When we were there in Apr 2012, there was one campsite that didn't seem too inviting, but when we went again in Sept 2012, they had set up a new campsite near Hippo pools - probably the best area for wildlife viewing in the dry.  Unfortunately, it also seems to double as the public toilet, so the day could have plenty of foot traffic ;)  But the nights should be quite exciting, as the animals seem to use this as a pathway to go to drink.  On both occasions we were there, we didn't see any campers, but wouldn't have too much of a problem camping there if the bandas were full.

Hippo at Hippo Pools

Update Apr 2013:  Each site has 2 camping spots, and we'd recommend the one closest to Hippo Pools.  They have recently built a toilet block with toilet and cold water showers, and looks like they clean daily.  The other site (also 2 camping spots) is still under construction with the toilet block, but should be up soon.

Update Apr 2014: The second campsite toilet block has been finished, but there's no water... which is making things very messy...

Update Jan 2016: They seemed to have figured out the ablutions, and if there is no water they'll come and pump it for you.

Wildness factor
Not too high on that scale along the main game viewing areas, because the close proximity to the large town of Morogoro allows for a lot of day trippers in cars, buses and taxis ;)  But, once you move out of the immediate gate area, you could easily be the only people around.  And in the end, even if the animals are hanging around the village, THEY are still wild ;)

You don't wonder about wildness
factor when they're staring at you!

Other logistics
TANAPA card needed? NO, although apparently they do accept them.
Booking ahead? NO.  In theory, you are supposed to book the bandas ahead of time, and reconfirm the day before.  But on both occasions we have been able to get a place to stay, even though it was a long weekend on both occasions.

Update Apr 2014: They've stopped accepting cash at the gate, and don't accept the Northern circuit TANAPA card (apparently there's another TANAPA card - I think it's available at CRDB Bank, but you'll have to check).  However, they do now accept Mastercard or VISA, we paid with our VISA Electron debit card last trip. ($30 pppn for foreigners)

Would we go again?
Definitely. 
Mikumi surprised us with its wildlife, and while it probably can't compete with the parks in the north of Tanzania, is a great option to get out of the city, or a gentle introduction to the parks of Tanzania.