Arusha National Park

Named after the bustling town of Arusha, northern Tanzania’s self-styled ‘safari capital’, this 137 sq km national park is among the most underrated in Tanzania, protecting a diversity of habitats ranging from open lakes and rolling grassland to Afro-montane forest and moorland. The dominant feature is the craggy Mount Meru, an extinct volcano whose altitude of 4,566 metres makes it the fifth highest mountain in Africa. The game-viewing roads also offer splendid views westward to Kilimanjaro, whose snow-capped peak, only 50km distant, often emerges from its cloudy shroud in the late afternoon.

Most notable for its lush landscapes and splendid scenery, Arusha National Park makes for an ideal half-day outing at the beginning or end of an extended safari in northern Tanzania. Game viewing doesn’t compare to the region’s best-known parks – of the so-called Big Five, elephant and leopard are scarce, and lion and rhino absent altogether – but connoisseurs will find much to savour, from the colobus monkeys that swing acrobatically through the forest canopy, to the flocks of flamingo that tinge the lake margins pink.

Wildlife

Activities

Getting there

Where to stay

Vegetation and habitats

In the northeast, rolling grassy hills enclose the tranquil Momela Lakes, each one a different hue of green or blue.

Surrounded by the most accessible montane forest in northern Tanzania, the sheer cliffs of the 400m deep, 3km wide Ngurdoto Crater enclose a marshy green floor dotted with wildlife.

Accessible to hikers only, the slopes of Mount Meru rise through shadowy forest and open grassland scattered with red-hot pokers to an otherworldly Afro-alpine moorland of pastel hued heaths studded with bizarre giant lobelias.

Wildlife

The forested slopes of Ngurdoto are the only place on the northern safari circuit where the acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkey is easily observed. The inquisitive blue monkey is also present.

The rolling grassland around the Momela Lakes is excellent for buffalo, giraffe, waterbuck and zebra.

The birdlife is fabulous, with numerous waterfowl and large flocks of flamingo present on the lakes, and a variety of garish turacos, trogons and hornbills in the forests.

Activities

The limited road circuit can easily be covered in a half-day game drive, taking in Ngurdoto Crater and the Momela Lakes. This will be adequate for most visitors, but birdwatchers may want to repeat the circuit.

Guided walks in the forest and around lake provide a rare opportunity to see big game on foot.

A three- to four-day ascent of Mount Meru, best undertaken between June and February, is worth doing in its own right, but also serves as good acclimatisation for Kilimanjaro.

Getting there

The main entrance gate, accessible all year through, is an easy 40-minute drive from Arusha, mostly on asphalt.

The park also lies less than an hour’s drive from Kilimanjaro International Airport and Moshi.

Where to stay

Dozens of tourist lodges suitable to all budgets are dotted around Arusha town and along the road connecting the town to the national park.

For more extended exploration, the park is serviced by a superb luxury camp, a midrange lodge and a number of campsites.

Checklist of conspicuous and noteworthy mammals: leopard, spotted hyena, white-tailed mongoose, blue wildebeest, hybrid common x Defassa waterbuck, impala, bushbuck, common duiker, Kirk’s dik-dik, red duiker, African elephant, African buffalo, common zebra, warthog, Maasai giraffe, yellow baboon, vervet monkey, blue monkey, black-and-white colobus, tree hyrax, rock hyrax.