About the Park

Arusha National Park sits 45 minutes from the city. Most people drive straight through it on the way to somewhere else. They shouldn't. The park covers 137 km². That's small. Within that, the landscape shifts from lowland savanna through montane forest to an alpine summit at 4,566 metres. Seven alkaline lakes sit in volcanic foothills; each one is a different colour depending on what's dissolved in it. Ngurdoto Crater is a miniature caldera with its own enclosed ecosystem. Mount Meru rises above everything as a steep, technical climb that many rate harder than Kilimanjaro, though it is 1,300 metres shorter. The wildlife is not flashy. Giraffe browse the acacia flats. Buffalo graze below the crater rim. Colobus monkeys work the montane forest in striking black and white. Flamingos gather on the Momella Lakes. Over 400 bird species have been recorded, and that number matters in a park of this size. What makes Arusha unusual is how much happens in a small space. You can paddle a canoe across a lake full of flamingos in the morning, walk through forest with colobus monkeys by midday, and be at a crater rim viewpoint by afternoon. No long transfers. For clients landing at Kilimanjaro with an afternoon to spare, or anyone wanting a gentler day between the bigger parks, it works perfectly. I use it to open itineraries, to help climbers acclimatise before Meru or Kilimanjaro, and to give visitors a version of Tanzania that doesn't consume six hours in a vehicle.