Mkomazi National Park
The park finds itself in a beautiful setting with both the Pare and Usambara mountains towering above its boundaries. Depending on the weather, Mount Kilimanjaro can also be seen from the park.
Destination Highlights
With 3510 square kilometers, it adjoins a portion of the southern boundary of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. Being a very arid area, with open plains, thorn bush and isolated rocky hills, it is the home to elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard, Oryx and lesser kudu as well as other lesser game. Bird life is particularly interesting.
Mkomazi National Park Background Information
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.
What to see and do
The main source of water in Mkomazi comes from the Umba River in the southeast. Apart from that, the park sees very little precipitation all year round making game drives along the river area definitely worthwhile.
The most famous members of the Mkomazi natives are surely the African wild dogs and the endangered black rhinos that live in a private sanctuary. This park is also one of the best places to see large herds of oryx and gerenuks roaming freely in the open bush land. Other small and large mammals that call Mkomazi their home include lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, elephants, buffaloes, hartebeests, giraffes and warthogs.
A healthy population of 450 bird species are also found in the park and several species can be seen during a game drive. The most commonly seen species include go away birds, ostriches, long crested eagles, hoopoes and bustards. Around the Umba River, sightings of kingfishes, flamingos, cormorants, plovers, ducks and crocodiles basking on the banks are common.
Where to find MKomazi National Park
