Visitor Information -- The Old Boma operates a very useful website, www.mikindani.com, with up-to-date information about getting there from Dar es Salaam, and other practicalities.

Getting There & Around -- Both Kilwa and Mikindani are most easily reached by air from Dar es Salaam, though, oddly, there are no scheduled connecting flights between the two. Coastal Aviation ($130 one-way; www.coastal.cc) operates a daily return flight between Dar es Salaam and Kilwa Masoko, stopping at Mafia or continuing to Zanzibar by request. Precision Air (tel. 022/286-0701; www.precisionairtz.com; about $140 one-way) flies a few times a week between Dar es Salaam and Mtwara, as does the less reliable Air Tanzania (022/211-8411; www.airtanzania.com), placing you less than 10 miles from Mikindani. Taxis usually meet incoming flights at Mtwara but not at Kilwa Masoko, though the safest bet in both cases is to prearrange a transfer with your hotel. If you fly down, there is no need to involve a safari operator unless you actively want to -- by prior arrangement, your lodge will be able to arrange all transport and activities on the ground.

Any safari operator can tag a visit to Kilwa onto a road safari to Selous Game Reserve or set up a standalone road trip there. Kilwa lies about 290km (180 miles) south of Dar es Salaam along a road that is newly surfaced for all but 48km (30 miles). The drive should take 4 to 5 hours in a private vehicle. You don't need a 4X4 unless you are coming from Selous, which is a perfectly feasible drive of at least 4 hours, depending on which camp you leave from. Self-drivers should note that Kilwa Masoko is not on the main coastal road, but is reached along a good 11km (6 3/4-mile) side road branching left at Nangurukuru. Mikindani is another 260km (161 miles) -- at least 3 hours -- south of Kilwa along a mostly good road passing through the more substantial port of Lindi.

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