Arusha National Park
This beautiful park has often been called a little gem and rightly so. It’s the closet park to Arusha town, the starting point of most safari to the famous northern circuit. It’s only 30 minutes’ drive by tarmac road from Arusha and 1hour and 20 minutes from Kilimanjaro airport. With Mountains, valleys, lakes, forest and small plains clothed in green, it has a wonderful feeling of peace and solitude. It is dominated by Mount Meru, which at 4,566m (14,980 Ft) is the third highest free standing Mountain in the world.
Wildlife
It is habitat for a wide variety of mammals including giraffe, elephants, buffaloes, zebra, bushbuck, waterbuck, baboons, hippopotamus, monkeys, leopard (rarely seen) duikers and hyena (rarely seen). The birdlife is specular with over 450 spices recorded. The game viewing track that winds around the momella lakes is a great way of getting close to watch the lesser and greater flamingoes. Arusha national park is the best national park in Tanzania to watch black and white colobus monkeys.
Activities
Game viewing, are possible on well-maintained network of roads throughout the year
The park is a great place for walking safari and a place where one can enjoy natural forest in comfort because of the cool climate, big animals like giraffe, waterbucks and buffaloes can be seen during these walks.
It’s possible by prior arrangement on small momella lakes, with hippos, giraffes, buffaloes, waterbucks and water birds often seen.
Being so close to, and between Arusha city and
Kilimanjaro International Airport, Arusha National Park
can feature at the start of your safari using one of the
small lodges or camps that are just outside the Park.
However, it is also a wonderful way to end a safari
because its green tranquility and cool climate are a
perfect antidote to an often hot and dusty main safari.
