5 Days Luxury Big Five and Birdwatching Safari in Southern Tanzania

Your safari begins with a flight from Dar es Salaam to the Mikumi area. Once you arrive, your private safari guide will meet you and transfer you to your luxury lodge or camp.

After lunch, you will enter Mikumi National Park for your first game drive. The initial drive provides an introduction to the park's major habitats and gives you an opportunity to begin searching for its larger wildlife.

Elephants, giraffes, buffalo, zebras, wildebeest and antelope may be encountered as you travel through the grasslands and woodland. Your guide will also keep an eye out for predators and explain the tracks, calls and behavior that can help locate wildlife.

Birdwatching will be incorporated throughout the drive. Open plains, woodland and water areas can attract different groups of birds, making it possible to combine big-game viewing with bird identification.

Return to camp in the evening for dinner and overnight accommodation

Destination:

Mikumi Natinal Park

Overnight:

Vuma Hills Tented Camp

  luxury 4 star lodge

Meals & Drinks:

Lunch, Dinner

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An early breakfast is followed by a full-day game drive through Mikumi. The morning hours are dedicated to locating active wildlife while temperatures are still comfortable.

Your guide will search for large mammals and predators, with particular attention to areas where animals congregate around water and productive grazing grounds. The day may provide opportunities to see elephants, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, hippos and other herbivores, as well as lions and other predators where encountered.

Rather than focusing exclusively on mammals, you will also stop regularly to identify birds. Raptors, waterbirds, woodland species and smaller colorful birds can all add variety to the safari.

A picnic lunch is taken during the day's excursion, allowing you to spend more time in the park. The afternoon drive continues through different habitats before returning to camp around sunset.

Destination:

Mikumi Natinal Park

Overnight:

Vuma Hills Tented Camp

  luxury 4 star lodge

Meals & Drinks:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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After breakfast, you will leave Mikumi behind and travel toward the Udzungwa Mountains. The journey offers a gradual transition from savannah wildlife country to the green landscapes surrounding the mountain forests.

After lunch and check-in, you will begin the walk toward Sanje Waterfalls. The forest immediately introduces a different style of wildlife observation.

Instead of scanning wide plains for large mammals, you will move slowly and listen for bird calls while examining the vegetation for movement. Monkeys, forest birds, butterflies and other small creatures may be encountered along the trail.

At Sanje Waterfalls, take time to enjoy the scenery before walking back toward the lodge. Dinner and overnight accommodation follow.

Destination:

Mikumi Natinal Park

Overnight:

Udzungwa Falls Lodge

  mid rage 3 star lodge

Meals & Drinks:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

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Today is focused on Udzungwa's forest ecosystem. An early start is particularly useful for birdwatching because many forest species are most active during the morning.

With your guide, walk quietly through the forest and listen for calls before attempting to locate birds among the foliage. The experience is slower and more observational than a conventional game drive.

Along the trail, you may also encounter monkeys and other forest wildlife. Your guide will explain the ecological importance of the Udzungwa Mountains and the relationship between the forest and surrounding communities.

After lunch, continue with a second nature activity or an alternative trail depending on weather, trail conditions and your interests. Return to the lodge in the late afternoon for your final evening

Destination:

Udzungwa Mountains

Overnight:

Udzungwa Falls Lodge

  mid rage 3 star lodge

Meals & Drinks:

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

❮ ❯

After breakfast, enjoy a final short birdwatching walk around the forest edge or lodge surroundings if your departure schedule allows.

This final session provides an opportunity to add a few more species to your observations while enjoying the quiet morning atmosphere of the Udzungwa landscape.

You will then transfer to the airstrip for your scheduled flight to Dar es Salaam. On arrival, your safari ends, with onward connections available for your international flight or next Tanzania destination.