Mkomazi National Park

Upgraded from a game reserve to a national park in 2006, Mkomazi lies in the north-east against the Kenyan border, forming a single ecosystem with Kenya's Tsavo West. Its 3,245 square kilometres of dry acacia-commiphora bush sit in the rain shadow of the Pare and Usambara Mountains, which rise dramatically along its southern edge.

Mkomazi is best known for two intensive conservation programmes: a fenced black rhino sanctuary, restocked to rebuild a population wiped out by poaching, and a captive-breeding and release project for African wild dogs. Both can be visited by arrangement. The wider park holds dry-country specialists — gerenuk, lesser kudu, oryx and the localised Mkomazi race of Grant's gazelle — plus elephant, giraffe and, seasonally, large concentrations of plains game. It is quiet, scenic and easily added to a Kilimanjaro or Usambara trip.