The Mkomazi National Park is a magnificent, 3,500 square kilometre national park in northern Tanzania. Remote and initially inaccessible, it was established in 1951, but never attracted the financial support provided for the better known wildlife strongholds such as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti National Parks. Only since 1989, when the Tanzanian Government re-examined the reserve’s status and designated it a National Priority Project, has its true significance and importance been recognized. Nowadays it is good accessible. From Mambo Viewpoint it is only one and a half hour drive to the Kivingo entrance. The Mkomazi National Park is a spectacular wilderness. Within sight to the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest summit. To the south, the Pare and Usambara Mountains form a dramatic backdrop and, to the north, Kenya’s vast Tsavo National Park shares a border with Mkomazi, making common ground for migratory herds of elephant, oryx and zebra during the wet season. Together with Tsavo, it forms one of the largest and most important protected ecosystems on earth.
How to go there
By road, Mkomazi is easily accessible via same, which lies on the surfaced highway connecting Arusha to Dar es Salaam. The Park is also easily accessible on special arrangement through Njiro, Kivingo and Umba gates. The park can also be easily accessed from the nearby existing tourist attractions in Eastern Arc Mountains, The Coast and Kilimanjaro Mountain. Charter flights are available to Kisima airstrip.
Things to Do
- Game Drives
- Camping
- Site seeing
- Bird watching
- Walking safari
- Hiking
Best Time to Visit
Late June to October is the prime time for watching wildlife in Mkomazi National Park. This is the Dry season; vegetation is thinner and animals gather near water. However, elephants and some other herbivores migrate to the park from neighbouring.
Facts about the Park
- Mkomazi is the southern tip of the Sahel zone.
- It is a classic dry-country reserve of grey-green nyika bush, ancient baobab trees and isolated rocky hills.
- Giraffe, oryx, gerenuk, hartebeest, lesser kudu, eland, impala and Grant’s gazelle share the reserve with elephant, buffalo, and numerous predators, including lion, leopard and cheetah.
- The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous, with over 400 recorded species.
