Arusha Safari, Arusha National Park

The nearest national park to Arusha town, the northern Tanzania safari capital is Arusha national park which is a multi-faceted jewel, usually over looked by those going for safaris, despite providing the chance to discover a charming diversity of habitats and within just a few hours.
Read about the Safari attractions in Arusha

Arusha national park covers 137sq kilometers and is located between the summits of mountain Kilimanjaro and mountain Meru and goes higher from 1500 meters at Mondla to 4566 metres at the peak of Meru mountain started in 1960, the park had comprised Ngurdoto crater and Momella lakes, upto 1967 when mt. Meru become part of the park.The entrance gate goes up to shadowy montane forest which is a home for inquisitive blue monkeys and colourful turaces and trogons the only region on the northern safari circuit where the acrobatic black and white colobus monkey is easily found. In the middle of the forest lies the spectacular Ngurdoto crater, whose steep, rocky cliffs cover a large marshy floor dotted with groups of buffalo and warthog.

Further in the north, rolling grassy hills surround the calm beauty of the Momela lakes, each one a distinct colour of green or blue. Their shallows at times slightly coloured pink with thousands of flamingos, the lakes support a rich selection of resident and migrant water fowl, and stagy water backs show their large lyre shaped horns on the watery fringes. Giraffes pass across the grassy hills, between grazing zebra groups, while pairs of wide eyed dik-dik dant into scrubby bulls like over grown hares on spindy legs.

When it comes to wildlife safaris in Arusha, Albert elephants are not common in Arusha national park, and Lions not present altogether, leopards and spotted Hyenas might be viewed moving around early in the morning and late in the afternoon. It is at dusk and day break that the veil of cloud on the eastern horizon is most likely to clear, showing the majestic snow capped summits of Kilimanjaro, only 50km or 30miles far. But it is mount meru, Kilimanjaro unassuming cousin, which is also the fifth highest in Africa at 4,566 metres or 14,990 feet, that has influenced over the horizon of the park. Its summits and eastern foot slopes preserved within the national park, Meru provides unparalleled spots of its popular neighbour, while also creating a benefiting liking destination in its own right.

Passing first through wooded savannah where buffalos and giraffes are usually found, the upward path of Meru leads into forests a flame with red-hot pokers and dripping with Spanish moss, prior to getting to high open heasth spiked with large lobelies. Everlasting flowers cling to the alpine desert, as delicately-hoofed klipspringers mark the hike’s progress. A stride the craggy peak, Kilimanjaro remains unveiled, blushing in the sun rise.

Accommodation for Arusha Safaris

Arusha Coffee lodge
Dik Dik hotel Arusha
Impala Hotel
Arusha Hotel
Serena Mountain Village
River Trees Country Inn
Novotel Mount Meru
Ngurdoto Mountain lodge
Mount Meru Game lodge
Moivaro coffee plantation lodge and Estate
Kigongoni lodge
Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) lodge
Karama lodge