Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Bus
The main bus station is 3km north of town on the main Dar es Salaam road, about 300m
east of Msamvu roundabout (Tsh3000 in a taxi and Tsh300 in a dalla-dalla). It's chaotic,
with no real order to things; you'll need to ask where to find buses to your destination. No
larger buses originate in Morogoro. Buses from Dar es Salaam going southwest towards
Mikumi and Iringa begin passing Morogoro about 9am (Tsh5000, 3½ hours Dar to Moro-
goro). To Tanga, there's a direct bus daily (Tsh6000, five hours), departing by 8am.
The main dalla-dalla stand is in front of the market, where there is also a taxi rank. There's
another dalla-dalla stop and taxi rank further east along Old Dar es Salaam Rd before the
post office.
En route to Morogoro from points north or east, you'll pass through Chalinze junction. The
restaurant adjoining the Kobil petrol station, just east of the junction along the Dar es Sa-
laam road has the cleanest roadside toilets this side of the Serengeti (although no toilet pa-
per).
Train
Morogoro is on the Central Line (
Click here
). Arrivals from Dar es Salaam are generally
about 10pm.
Mikumi National Park
Mikumi is Tanzania's fourth-largest national park. It's also the most accessible from Dar
es Salaam. With almost guaranteed wildlife sightings, it makes an ideal safari destination
for those without much time. Within its 3230 sq km - set between the Uluguru Mountains
to the northeast, the Rubeho Mountains to the northwest and the Lumango Mountains to
the southeast - Mikumi hosts buffaloes, wildebeests, giraffes, elephants, lions, zebras, leo-
pards, crocodiles and more, and chances are high that you'll see a respectable sampling of
these within a short time of entering the park.
To the south, Mikumi is contiguous with Selous Game Reserve, although there's cur-
rently no all-weather road linking the two (most operators go via Morogoro). More feasible
is a combination of Mikumi with Udzungwa Mountains National Park, which is about a
two-hour drive southwest.
Mikumi is an important educational and research centre. Among the various projects be-
ing carried out is an ongoing field study of yellow baboons, which is one of just a handful
of such long-term primate studies on the continent.
