MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK:

Set between the Uluguru mountains to the north and the Lumango mountains to the south-east and within a short flight from Dar es Salaam, Mikumi offers over 3000 sq km of terrain teeming with wildlife and 300 species of birdlife. To the south and east of Mikumi lies the 45 000 sq km Selous Game Reserve towards which the national park points like an arrowhead. The Mikumi-Selous ecosystem is the biggest in Africa. Because of its accessibility it is one of the most popular parks in Tanzania and is an important centre for education where students go to study ecology and conservation.

Mikumi National Park is named after the small town of Mikumi established in 1914 by Chief Mtwahela Kikuwi, leader of the Wavindunda people. The town of Mikumi takes its name from the word "mikuky" for the borassus palm which once grew around the initial village. The "mikuky" tree was used by the villagers to build and thatch their houses and to make a local brew.

The main feature of the park is the Makumi flood plain, along with the mountain ranges that border the park on two sides. Open grasslands dominate the flood plain, eventually merging with the moimbo woodland covering the lower hills. It is in this area that the visitor will most easily see the bulk of Mikumi's wildlife. Elephants are common, as are giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, warthog, eland and large groups of impala and buffalo. Mikumi has always been noted for its buffalo for they are the major species in the park in terms of their size and numbers. They are most easily found on the Mkata Flood Plain wallowing in swampy black cotton soil.

Lions are most frequently seen on the Mkata Flood Plain because of the close proximity of their prey species, notably buffalo, wildebeest and zebra. The Mkata Flood Plain is comprised largely of heavy clay deposits which remain swampy for most of the year in the north. In the south there are slow-running watercourses draining into Mkata River in the north.

Elephants are found throughout Mikumi but they are most likely to be seen in the Kikoboga area. Mikumi elephants are somewhat smaller than their relatives elsewhere in Tanzania, this may be as a result of the young age of the growing population. The herds of elephants at Mikumi are most likely to be family groups comprising a matriarch, her sisters, and their offspring.

The southern extension of Mikumi National Park in the hilly country towards the Selous Game Reserve is the only place where you are likely to see sable, while the hippopotamus pool at the start of Mkata Drive is the easiest place to see a pod of these animals.

Mikumi National Park, with its stands of moimbo woodland, riverine forest characteristic of coastal lowlands, the montane forest of Mount Malundwe and the swamps and pools of the Mkata Flood Plain, encompasses a wealth of birdlife. The range of habitat means that 75 percent of the bird families known to occur in Tanzania are present while the forest at Malundwe is one of the few areas where sub-species of birds normally found in different areas overlap.

Mikumi's wet and dry seasons last roughly for six months each - from late - November to early-May for the rains and from mid-May to late - November for the dry season. However there is always a definite drying period in January-February. The first six months are humid giving way to the cooler months when greater numbers of tourists visit.