MKOMAZI NATIONAL PARK 1-DAY SAFARI, TANZANIA

Mkomazi National Park is located near Same, around 2 hours from Moshi, and great for a day trip. With its 3234 km², it’s a bit larger than Tarangire, and much bigger than Lake Manyara National Park or Ngorongoro crater. But the main things that put Mkomazi in a completely different category than these much more famous destinations has nothing to do with size.

First of all, the park gets an average of 10 visitors per day, and you’ll get the impression of having the whole park to yourself more or less all day long. Second, Mkomazi is nicknamed ‘home of the black rhino’ and is the only place in northern Tanzania where you’re more or less guaranteed to see one of these majestic creatures from very nearby. The amazing scenery of the Pare Mountains in the background is definitely another positive point for the park.

Due to its low visitor numbers and history, the animals at Mkomazi National Park are more scared of the cars than in the more famous parks. This means they don’t always come as close and you need a good guide that’s really familiar with animal behavior. Of course we’ll provide this for you! For this reason, we’d mostly recommend this park if you’re really looking for an off-the-beaten path experience that you have to share with very little other tourists, and if you’re interested in seeing animals that are much less used to human presence.

MKOMAZI NATIONAL PARK ITINERARY

We’ll pick you up from your accommodation in Moshi around 7 AM and drive for about 2 hours before we reach the entrance of Mkomazi National Park. We’ll stop shortly for check-in and to be informed about the timing of your visit to the rhino sanctuary before we start the visit.

You’ll spend most of the day game driving and will almost certainly see zebras, giraffes, elephants, ostrich, lots of birds, and different types of antelope. The landscapes are stunning as well, with the Pare Mountains defining the view.

At some point during the day, depending on the planning of the park rangers, we’ll take you to the rhino sanctuary. Here, you’ll first get a bit of information about the black rhino population in Tanzania and in general, and about the breeding program that has been set up at Mkomazi to help save them from extinction. Afterwards, you’ll get into a special open safari vehicle accompanied by a local ranger to head out into the public part of the sanctuary and see one of the rhinos. These rhinos are not / no longer part of the breeding program but live freely and can be visited. We ask you to pay particular attention to the ranger’s wished, eg. be very quiet when you approach a rhino, as to not disturb them.

We’ll provide a picnic lunch inside the park and you’ll leave the park in the late afternoon.

Duration: +- 12 hours

Driving time: 4 hours go and return + game drive

Don’t forget: sun protection

OUR OFFER – PRICES AND SERVICES

Please contact us to know the price of this safari.

The following services are included in our package

Entrance fees for Mkomazi National Park
Transport in a 4×4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof from your hotel in Moshi to the park and back
Game drive in the park
Visit to the rhino sanctuary with a local, English-speaking ranger (and without your safari guide).
Professional, English-speaking guide
Picnic lunch
Drinking water
Binoculars (at least 1 in the car)

In Tanzania, a tip is expected after your participation in a tourist activity. This tip is not included in your package. The recommended amount for a tour guide is 20-25 USD per day if you’re satisfied, to be divided by all your group members. As we pay a lot of attention to creating good working conditions for all our crew members and making sure they get paid according to guidelines from organizations that defend their rights, we kindly request you to respect this amount for any trip. Thank you!

All our safaris are private safaris. Please contact us for different group sizes, groups including children, or if you wish to add extra options to your safari.