A first-time Tanzania safari, explained by a local operator. 12 honest tips on circuits, packing, timing, and what to expect before you...
This is the shortest Mikumi safari that includes a night in the park. You leave Dar es Salaam on the 06:00 SGR in business class and reach Morogoro at 07:40. Your guide meets you there with a private 4×4.
You enter Mikumi National Park in mid-morning, in time for a game drive on the Mkata Floodplain. After lunch and a rest, you head out again in the afternoon. The next morning you wake early for a dawn drive, when predators are most active.
Elephant, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, hippo and buffalo are all likely sightings. Choose Budget for a comfortable budget lodge, or Mid-range for a higher standard of lodge.
Check in at the Dar es Salaam SGR station and board the 06:00 business class train to Morogoro. You arrive at 07:40.
Your guide meets you at the station with a private 4×4. The drive to Mikumi National Park takes about 1.5 to 2 hours, so you enter the park in mid-morning.
Start with a game drive on the Mkata Floodplain. Elephant herds and giraffe are common, and lion are regularly seen near the floodplain edge. Return to the lodge for lunch and a rest.
Head out again in the afternoon for a second drive. Return to the lodge at dusk for dinner and overnight.
Wake at 06:00 for an early game drive. This is when predators are most active. Stop at the hippo pool before you leave the park.
Return to the lodge for breakfast and check out. Transfer to Morogoro for lunch, then take the SGR back to Dar es Salaam.
The boat safari on the Rufiji was the part I didn't expect to love most. Hippos surfacing two metres away, fish eagles overhead, a crocodile longer than our boat sliding off the bank. It felt completely different from any game drive I've done elsewhere in Africa.
Two days in Mikumi, two days in Ruaha then straight to Stone Town the contrast is part of the magic. Still dusty from the bush, sitting in a rooftop restaurant eating grilled lobster that night. Safari Elation handled every transfer and it was completely seamless.
From $383 per person for Budget and $541 per person for Mid-range. Both include SGR business class tickets, a private 4×4, guide, park fees, lodge and meals.
We book the 06:00 business class departure, which reaches Morogoro at 07:40. A later 07:20 train exists, but it arrives at 08:50 and cuts into your first game drive, so we do not recommend it.
Accommodation only. The game drives, guide and vehicle are the same.
Yes. See our 3-day and 4-day Mikumi safaris, or email us for a custom length.
Comfortable budget lodge, same game drives and guide. Best value for a night in Mikumi.
Mid-range lodge, same game drives and guide. A higher standard of rooms and facilities.
Private 4x4, professional guide and park fees are included on every package.
Safari travel guides written from the ground in Tanzania.
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