Swirls of dense mist mask the approach of dawn. The first rays of sun colour the light grasses rippling across the plain with a reddish glow. Zebras, confident in their camouflage at this hour when the big cats emerge, stand poised like dancers, heads aligned, stripes blurring into one another.
Crossed by the paved road linking Dar es Salaam to Iringa, Mikumi National Park borders the northern edge of Africa's largest game reserve, the Selous. It forms the most easily accessible part of a 75,000 km² wilderness area that, to the east, stretches almost to the Indian Ocean.
The open savannah and abundant wildlife of the Mkata floodplain, Mikumi's main draw, regularly earn it comparisons to the famous Serengeti plains. From atop termite mounds or, in the rainy season, from the branches of trees, lions keep watch over their territory and the herds of zebra, impala, wildebeest and buffalo that cross it. Giraffes forage in the acacia groves lining the Mkata River — shaded islands also favoured by elephants.
