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Mkomazi National Park

It is where black rhino and wild dog have returned to roam. 

East of the Pare Mountains, Mkomazi falls along the edge of a semi-arid savanna arc that stretches into bordering Kenya's Tsavo East National Park. Every day, thousands of people pass near its gates at Same Town on one of Tanzania's busiest highways. Few, however, know of its rugged acacia-covered beauty beside the Usambara and Pare mountains, with Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance.

Endangered black rhino and wild dog have found refuge in the national park along with the adjacent Umba reserve in order to better protect those and other species. Within the park, the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary has attained international renown for rehabilitating rhino, and it offers limitless viewing and educational opportunities for travelers. 

Herds of the tall slender-necked Gerenuks, with their bizarre alien-like heads, survive in Mkomazi's arid lands where other antelope cannot; the Gerenuk even stand on their hind legs to stretch for the tiny leaves of thorny bushes and trees.

The park takes its name from the Pare tribe's word for “water source”, referring to the Umba River on Mkomazi's south eastern border. The river and other water holes keep the park teeming with small and large mammals, including silver backed jackal, lion, cheetah, leopard, lesser kudu, giraffe, buffalo, elephant and zebra. Bird watchers also delight in trying to spot any number of Mkomazi's 450 avian species, from wood hoopoe to tawny eagle, parrot to kingfisher. 

As a national park, Mkomazi have the potential to be a glorious sanctuary where travelers will explore more of Tanzania's hidden natural treasures.

Note: Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary is a fledgling operation protecting a small sensitive breeding population of rhinos. Visits are restricted and must be organized through commercial operators with camps in the national park.  Sightings are normally possible during the dry season only, when the rhinos regularly visit specific water sources.