Mikumi
National Park: Africa Natural Safari
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Mikumi National Park
Swirls of opaque mist hide the
advancing dawn. The first shafts of sun colour the fluffy grass heads rippling
across the plain in a russet halo. A herd of zebras, confident in their
camouflage at this predatory hour, pose like ballerinas, heads aligned and
stripes merging in flowing motion.
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 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 centrepiece 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 favoured also by Mikumi’s elephants.
Criss-crossed by a good circuit of
game-viewing roads, the Mkata Floodplain is perhaps the most reliable place in
Tanzania for sightings of the powerful eland, the world’s largest antelope. The
equally impressive greater kudu and sable antelope haunt the miombo-covered
foothills of the mountains that rise from the park’s borders.
More than 400 bird species have been
recorded, with such 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. Hippos are the star attraction of the pair of
pools situated 5km north of the main entrance gate, supported by an
ever-changing cast of waterbirds.
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