Mikumi National Park, dainty and appealing.

Mikumi National Park is located 283 km (175 miles) west of Dar es Salaam on the main Morogoro-Iringa Highway and is the closest park to the capital. It is the first national park stop on the Tanzania southern circuit safari and takes roughly 4½ hours to get to by road. The 3,230 sq km that make up Mikumi National park form the northern border of Africa’s biggest game reserve – the enormous Selous Game reserve. It is the most easy to get to region with regard to 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square miles) wilderness that stretches almost to the shores of the Indian Ocean. It is nestled in the centre of mountain ranges, Uruguru Mountains to the East and the Lumango ranges to the Southwest.  Enclosed by this ranges is the main feature of the park, the Mkata floodplain that is home to a large herd of Buffalo. It is within the open horizon of Mkata floodplain that the bulk of the wildlife in Mikumi is found.

The open plains that characterize Mkata floodplain ultimately merge with the Miombo woodland covering the lower hills. The floodplain is rich in greenery and has frequently drawn comparisons to the renowned Serengeti. The lions pace majestically in the floodplain looking for an unfortunate herbivore to devour, or are sometimes too full to bother with the antelopes that inhabit Mikumi. The lions are also known for their rare tree climbing skills especially when they want to avoid the sticky black cotton soils. The name Mikumi was initially the name given to villages created by a tribal chief of the Wavindunda community.

Guests to Mikumi National Park will be able to spot game animals like the cheetah, lion, elephant, buffalo, and rhino with ease. Hippos can be viewed wallowing in muddy pools located about 5 km north of the main entrance. When the rains come around, many wild animals withdraw to the miombo woodlands, perhaps to take shelter from the African showers.  But fear not, there are observation towers mounted in the woodlands that offer a picturesque view of the floodplain.

Other animals in this fourth largest park in Tanzania are Hartebeest, Wildebeest, Wild dogs, Pythons, Impala, Warthog, Eland (the largest antelope), Kudu, Sable Antelope, other antelopes, Leopards, Zebra and unique Mikumi Giraffes that naturalists say seem to be a cross between the reticulated and Maasai giraffes. They seem to love browsing among the secluded acacia trees that edge the Mkata River. Interestingly, the elephants at Mikumi are slightly smaller as compared to elephants in other parks.
More than 400 bird species have been recorded at Mikumi, with 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.

The Mkata floodplain is interweaved by a well-maintained network of game-viewing roads. That, and the fact that the animals at Mikumi are easy to spot, perchance makes it the most reliable place in Tanzania for sightings of wild animals and a well-liked alternative for any visitor who doesn’t have much time to spend on an extended safari itinerary.

It is the first Park On the Southern Safari Circuit that consists of Ruaha National Park, Udzungwa National Park and Selous Game Reserve. It is has well priced accommodation and is accessible all year round.

Treasures of Serengeti National Park.

The name, Serengeti, actually ‘siringit’ in Maasai means ‘extended place.’ Indeed the Serengeti just seems to roll on and on and on. All 14,763 sq kms of this natural wonderland is awe-inspiring. The park is situated on a plateau flanked by the Ngorongoro highlands and the Kenya/Tanzania border. The Serengeti is endowed with riverine forests, plains, thorn scrubs and not to mention wildlife. Trees and shrubs that conceal the creatures that roam this never-ending expanse intermittently puncture the Serengeti’s effortless rolling grasslands. The Serengeti is also embellished with granite inselbergs known as ‘Kopje’ that spread out across the landscape. The Serengeti’s climate is usually warm and dry.

The main rainy season is from March to May, with short rains falling from October to November. The amount of rainfall increases from about 508mm on the plains in the leeward side of the Ngorongoro Highlands to about 1,200mm on the shores of Lake Victoria. Those fortunate to tour this bush area go home with memories of enormous herds of antelope browsing on the grasslands. Columns of wildebeest pound the earth with hooves and prides of lions patrolling the plains. Its landscape was initially shaped by volcanic action. But trust Mother Nature. She proceeded to sculpt a masterpiece using wind, rain and sun out of the volcanic deposits. Serengeti now boasts of vast grass plains in the south, savannah with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. In the South-East rise the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Each area has its own particular atmosphere and wildlife.

Serengeti National Park is roughly divided into three separate regions, namely the Western Corridor, the Seronera Valley and Seronera River and the Northern Lobo region that extends northwards beyond the Lamai Wedge to the Maasai Mara. Serengeti is still one of the most enthralling locations in the world to view wildlife. Rivers flow through the park, providing habitats for a variety of birds, mammals and reptiles. Serengeti is rightly renowned for its vast concentrations of animals, particularly the big cats, in addition to playing host to part of the Great Migration. At some times of the year, Serengeti boasts of a colossal gathering of almost a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and 350,000 gazelles racing towards the Maasai Mara in an annual race to find sufficient waters and fresh grass for their survival. Seronera Valley is a pulsating flora and fauna region of the Serengeti. It is a gently undulating plain interrupted by all-season rivers and rock Kopjes. In this valley, the migrating stocks usually halt to calve in March every year but wildlife can be found here all year round.

On reaching the Serengeti one says farewell to civilization and crosses the threshold into the terrain where no traffic exists, not even footpaths, but only shallow gullies generated by generations and generations of migrating wildebeest. In Serengeti, the Lion is king. Everyone else is a pretender. In a splendid example of coexistence, the Maasai with their crimson coloured clothing and shiny spears shepherd their livestock and share this wilderness with Leopards and Elephants. Through the great migration around end of June, the Serengeti plains are swarmed with masses of Wildebeest rallying insistently towards Maasai Mara for the lush shrubbery. In November, the Wildebeest, Zebra and Thompson Gazelle replicate the same pilgrimage on their way back to the Serengeti once the juicy vegetation of the Maasai Mara has been worn out. Between May and October the oceans of grass in the Serengeti are packed with animals. Leopard, Elephant, Wild dog, Monkeys, Coke’s hartebeest, Impala, Hippo, Jackal, Warthogs, Caracal Giraffes, Gazelles, Hyena, Lion, Eland, Cheetah and Ostrich can all be viewed in the Serengeti. As for birdwatchers birds like Raptors, Eagles, Ruppell’s Griffon Vultures, Hawks and Harrier among other birds dash about the Serengeti. If you’re adventurous, take a game drive to the secluded Salei plains that are known as cheetah country. There are many resorts that assure comfort as you savour the African wilderness.

• Wildebeest Migration 101
• The Masai Mara National Reserve
• The wildebeest
• Wildebeest migration safari
• Tanzania safari - Manyara-Ngorongoro-Serengeti 6 Day Safari

Kilimanjaro National Park.

Kilimanjaro National Park is located near Moshi inTanzania. It is centered on Mount Kilimanjaro and covers an area of 753 km². Mount Kilimanjaro is the highlight of this National Park and is indeed the main attraction. Mount Kilimanjaro is mystic. The folklore of Kilimanjaro tells of some man-eating spirits that dwelled in this snow capped mountain. The spirits seem to no longer frequent the Mountain because hardly anyone among the groups of ecstatic visitors that hike the mountain has ever been eaten by whatever sort of spirits.

Your mountaineering or trekking cv is not complete if you havent hiked this majestic beauty that is the world’s highest free standing snow-covered equitorial mountain and the highest mountain in Africa. What makes this beauty memorable is the fact that it rises in awe-inspiring isolation from the surrounding Indian Ocean coastal scrubland (whose altitude is almost 900 metres) to an authoritative 5,895 metres (19,336 feet). Yet it is one of the world’s most accessible high summits.

The ascent of the slopes is a scenic climatic vista, starting with the tropics and ending with the Arctic. Kilimanjaro soars above the Great Rift Valley and a climb up Mt Kili is not just an adrenaline packed activity but is particularly special. The Mt.Kilimanjaro panaroma comprises of the moorland and highland zones, Shira Plateau, Kibo and Mawenzi peak. There are six basic trekking routes to the summit and other more-demanding mountaineering routes. Day or overnight hikes are also offered to the Shira plateau, there are nature trails on the lower reaches and Trout fishing is allowed too. The clearest and warmest conditions are from December to February, while dry (and colder) conditions are from July-September.  

On the way up, the slopes lead to lush montane tropical forests (1850m – 2800m) populated by Buffalo, the endangered Abbot’s Duiker, Elephants, Leopard, Antelopes and Monkeys. There is cloud condensation just about this region. As a result it is mainly damp or drenched with rainfall. This atmosphere generates a fascinating collection of plant and tree life and clear rivers. There is heather and shrubs like Proteas due to the mist and dampness in the heath region just past the trees.

From around 3,200m, hiking gradient remains gentle, but the oxygen is thinner. Of course this slackens the pace because the muscles get less oxygen. The vegetation gently develops into prehistoric looking moorland vegetation, where a blanket of enormous heather covers the vegetation with thin plant stems interrupting the heather cover. The clear sky results in spells of intense sunshine unlike the montane tropical forests where the clouds obstruct sunshine. The nights in this region are cool and clear.

Above 4,000m, a dreamlike alpine desert with dramatic temperature fluctuations barely sustains a handful of hardy mosses and lichen. Then, finally, a winter wonderland of ice and snow with eternal ice and below freezing temperatures completes this dreamy voyage.

Further than 5000m, after Kibo Hut and past the Saddle, the setting is largely rock and ice fields as climbers push towards the summit. Even higher, beyond 4,000m, this sensation intensifies as the landscape develops into a more bizarre alpine desert, with sandy loose earth and intense weather conditions and temperature fluctuations so dramatic that barely any plant species survive other than everlasting flowers, mosses and lichens. Only the odd lichen survives beyond 5000m, after Kibo Huts and beyond the Saddle, where the landscape is predominantly rock and ice fields. Here, climbers experience the final steep push to the summit. Kibos crater at the summit is more or less round with an inner cone extending to 5,800m, (100m lower than the summit at Uhuru Peak). At the very centre is a cone that spews sulphurous-like hot smoke from its depths in spite of the frozen, snowy outskirts.

Those who get to Uhuru Point, the actual summit, or Gillman’s Point on the rim of the crater will have earned their climbing certificates and memories too. Be sure to visit the scenic Chala Crater Lake on the mountain’s southeastern slopes.

When you get to the top nothing beats the feeling of seeing clouds beneath you considering we always see them above us.

Climbs up Kilimanjaro can be organised from a variety of routes and with various options for accommodation. The two most popular being the Gentle Marangu Climb for reasonably fit people and the Picturesque Machambe climb for experienced mountaineers. 

A lot of tour operators ask that clients confer with a doctor before attempting to a climb. When ascending, climb slowly so as to acclimatise and avoid altitude sickness. Remember to Plan well.

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