ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK

This is a little known, yet interesting and beautiful national park, which lies between the peaks of Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru . The park, lying at the foothills of Mt Meru, covers an area of 147 square kilometres, approximately an hour’s drive from Arusha town.

Wonderfully tranquil and extremely scenic, the park encompasses the serene Momella Lakes - teeming with hippopotami, a host of flamingo and other birdlife, the Ngurdoto Crater- a smaller crater compared to the massive Ngorongoro Crater, but nonetheless offers a spectacular view of resident game such as buffalo, zebra, ostrich, elephant and antelope. It is also one of the few places where one can appreciate the tranquility and wonder of this montane landscape.

The park lies between two giants – the awesome Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru. No other park in East Africa can boast such fabulous views – different lights and seasons provide a varying canvas for the keen photographer.

This is also the home of the famous but rarely seen Black-and-White Colobus Monkey - one can spend hours watching their antics amongst the forest canopy. The drive to this park from Arusha town takes only about an hour.

Arusha National Park is a botanist’s paradise – hundreds of plant species ranging from large wild date palms to a variety of ferns, orchids and bearded lichens hanging from trees in the dense forests. It is also an orthinological and entomological haven – many interesting bird and insect species can be found here, undisturbed much as they have for years.

There is plenty to do in the park - one can take a short walking safari within metres of herds of buffalo, giraffe and antelope on the way to the lovely waterfalls and a beautiful natural fig tree arch (a hollow in an ancient fig tree that elephant and vehicles can pass through). To get the adrenaline going one can take a canoeing safari on the Great Momella Lakes to get a different perspective of wildlife viewing from the water!

For the ultimate thrill, take a three-day trek up the 4,565m (15,064 ft) dormant Mount Meru (known by the Maasai as "Oldo inyo Orok" - The Black Mountain) which can be arranged together with a safari in the park. Famous points on Mount Meru are the Rhino Point and the fabulous Ash Cone. To get to the summit, one needs to brace oneself for the clamber around the knife-edged rim of the crater (sure to set your heart pumping wildly!) The reward: Spectacular views over the park and surrounding area and Meru’s majestic neighbour Kilimanjaro floating above the clouds which can be observed from the peak of Meru . See the mountain trek section for details of the Mount Meru trek.

Accommodation is available in a variety of lodges – from the humble homely environment of the Meru View Lodge to the luxurious splendour of the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge with its 18-hole golf course, or the Hatari Lodge where the famous 1960 Hollywood film “Hatari” was shot, starring John Wayne and Hardy Kruger.

For the more adventurous, there are a number of campsites within the park