6 Days Mikumi Safari (Mikumi, Waterfalls & Ruaha)

Day 1: Drive from Dar es Salaam to Mikumi – Afternoon Game Drive

You shall wake up early, the city still heavy with sleep as you set off towards Mikumi. The drive is a journey of contrasts — from the concrete sprawl of Dar to the open, unbroken horizon of the savanna. Along the way, you pass roadside stalls selling roasted corn, mangoes piled high in wooden crates, and children playing football in the dust.

Lunch Stop: You shall have lunch at a local café — a simple but hearty meal of grilled fish and rice, washed down with a cold soda.

Afternoon Game Drive: Upon entering Mikumi, the wild greets you with open arms. Elephants trumpet from the bushes, a lion yawns lazily under a tree, and a herd of impalas leaps through the grass, their coats flashing like copper in the sun.

Evening: You shall arrive at your lodge as the sky blazes orange.

Accommodation options :

• Budget: Camp Bastian Mikumi
• Mid-range: Mikumi Wildlife Camp
• Luxury: Vuma Hills Tented Camp

You shall have dinner under the stars, the air filled with the distant roar of a lion and the chirping of cicadas.

Day 2: Full Day Game Drive in Mikumi

Nyerere’s big loop the next day is a collage of widening eyes: a herd of sable antelope bolt across the track, dust hanging like smoke. At a lake shore, elephants screw their trunks into the mud for water sweetened by clay. Painted dogs fan out in hunting formation, ears high, legs spring-coiled. Evening brings a crimson horizon and the soft hiss of your beer bottle on opening.

Evening: Return to the lodge for dinner and a night under the African sky.

Accommodation options :

• Budget: Camp Bastian Mikumi
• Mid-range: Mikumi Wildlife Camp
• Luxury: Vuma Hills Tented Camp

Day 3: Mikumi – Waterfalls Visit

Day three settles into rhythm. Some choose a lazy breakfast, others race the dawn. The midday pause is hammock time, then an evening circuit reveals lions sprawled across a dry watercourse, paws huge against cracked earth.

Evening: Dinner at the lodge, stories shared around the campfire.

Accommodation options :

• Budget: Camp Bastian Mikumi
• Mid-range: Mikumi Wildlife Camp
• Luxury: Vuma Hills Tented Camp

Day 4: Drive to Ruaha – Evening Game Drive

Walking safari morning on day four starts under light no brighter than a match strike. An armed ranger leads; you learn the hush of wind in fever-trees, the peppery smell of wild sage crushed between fingers, the pulse that jumps when fresh lion tracks cross the path. Brunch refuels, then tyres hum north. The land folds into hills, giraffes appear like exclamation points—Mikumi town.

Day 5: Full Day Game Drive in Ruaha

Mkata wakes you with lion chorus on day five. Plains glow silver-green, zebras scatter, and the hippo pool burps steam. Afternoon heat softens everything but the gaze of a resting male lion, amber eyes tracking distant buffalo. Night drive flips the script: genet streaks like liquid shadow, porcupine raises quills in torch light and in the evening, return to the lodge for a final dinner under the stars.

Day 6: Morning Game Drive – Return to Dar es Salaam

Final morning begins with Maasai chants rising from a boma at the park edge. You step within the circle of manyattas, watch ochre-robed warriors leap, learn bead-work colour codes, trade smiles. By noon the jeep noses east, Morogoro’s peaks fade, and the scent of salt rides the air—signal that your six-day story is closing. Yet the mind replays wild dogs trotting, Rufiji glittering, Mikumi lions roaring into dusk—a reel set to loop long after wheels stop rolling.

Safari Tips

• Best Time to Visit: June to October — the dry season when the wildlife is most active.
• What to Pack: Sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, camera, binoculars, sturdy shoes, and swimwear for the waterfalls.
• Wildlife to Watch For: Lions, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, and over 500 bird species.
• Travel Considerations: Roads can be rough — a 4×4 vehicle is highly recommended.