Mkomazi Natoinal Park

Mkomazi National Park is a magnificent, 3,245 square kilometre national park in northern Tanzania. The name was derived from Pare tribe’s word for “scoop of water” meaning little water as the area is too dry, especially during the dry season.

Highlights

Rhino’s Tourists are able to watch rhinos at close range. Mkomazi National Park erected an electric fence with two areas where the black rhino is. One is for breeding and one is for tourists where can watch the Rhinos during a special trip with cars from the park.

Game drive Many animals can be found during a game drive.

Walking safari The park is offering walking safaris, starting from the main gate.

Wild dogs Mkomazi welcomes you to come and see this carnivore.

Bird watching Around 450 species of birds are also found in the park

History

The Mkomazi National Park is a magnificent, 3,245 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. From 2021 the Rhino sanctuary can be visited by tourists. Nowadays it is good to access. From MamboViewPoint it is only one and a half hour’s drive to the Kamakota 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.

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. Elsewhere, the seas of bush give way to open savannah woodlands of umbrella acacias and mbugas – shallow valleys of grassland.

The animals, too, are typical of the arid nyika. Giraffes, 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. In all, 78 species of mammals have been recorded.

The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous, with over 400 recorded species. Doves, hornbills, weavers and guinea fowl are all present in large numbers – as well as such striking species as the martial eagle and violet wood hoopoe.