Mikumi is the most accessible of Tanzania's southern parks, and a scheduled light-aircraft flight from Zanzibar puts its open Mkata Floodplain within reach for a single day. The floodplain in the park's north recalls the Serengeti in miniature — grassland grazed by elephant, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and impala, with lion often resting on the termite mounds and over 400 bird species recorded.
You land in the morning, game-drive through the middle of the day with a picnic lunch, and fly back in the afternoon.
Morning flight to the Mikumi airstrip. Half-day game drive on the Mkata Floodplain with a picnic lunch. Transfer back to the airstrip for the afternoon flight to Zanzibar.