Site Report: Mikumi National Park

Visits

• 2002-11-16: As we traveled from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania toward the solar eclipse in Botswana, we encountered a bonus... Discount Lion Safari! On this safari, we would be riding in a public transit mini-bus on the public road through Mikumi National Park. The bus fare, after getting ripped off by a scammer, was about $6.00. The safari was fairly successful as we saw some zebras and giraffes from the bus. We decided that it would be a good idea to explore the park further. Getting off the bus at the next stop, we found a room at the "Internet Guest House." Of course, there was not internet, computer, or even electricity at the guest house, but we were able to arrange for a guy with a truck to drive us around in the park to look for lions. We left early the next morning, and sure enough we were quick to find a male lion sleeping under a tree. Shortly thereafter, we spotted a female lion with a cub, and when they saw us, they immediately walked over to the truck to sit in the shade. These lions were literally two feet from us! In the park we also saw African Buffalo and Elephants on a walking safari. I went with the owner of the Internet to the market to buy some ingredients for a vegetarian dinner. When we got to dinner, Barbara ordered chicken and chips. The answer was "no, meat" and my vegetarian ingredients had been used to embellish a plate of goat. Barbara says that the goat was delicious.

Species Seen

Lifelists

• Africa
• World

Trips

• Africa: Eastern and Southern