Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park is the ideal destination to start off your safari. This small but lovely park is the closest national park to Arusha town. It offers a wide variety of landscapes, from savannah to alkaline lakes, rainforest and the towering peak of Mount Meru. The Momela Lakes, Ngurdoto Crater and Mount Meru are the three main features of the park. It’s a perfect place to spot the black-and-white colobus monkey and explore nature on a walking safari or canoe trip.

Momela Lakes

The scenic Momela Lakes in the north-east of the park consist of seven soda lakes surrounded by grassy green hills. These alkaline lakes all have another color – from green to blue – due to different algae that grow here. The mineral rich water attracts all kinds of water birds like flamingos, geese and herons. Sometimes the lakes turns pink due to the thousands of pink flamingos that flock together. A great and unique way to enjoy the scenery and wildlife living close to the water, is on a canoe safari on small Momela Lake.

Ngurdoto Crater

The 3 km wide and 400 m deep Ngurdoto Crater is shaped like a bowl with steep walls covered in dense forest. It looks like a miniature Ngorongoro Crater with animals living on the marshy crater floor. You can see monkeys, hyenas, buffaloes, antelopes and warthogs. Since this is a protected ecosystem it’s not possible to descend into the crater, but you can walk on the crater rim and observe the wildlife below.

Mount Meru

Tanzania’s second highest mountain, Mount Meru, is located in the heart of the park. This extinct volcano has two main cones and a few small cones and craters. On the fertile lower slopes you can find an abundance of wildlife, like buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes and colobus monkeys. The dense forest changes into moorland and alpine desert, the higher you get. Mount Meru is only 70 km away from the famous Kilimanjaro and therefore a popular ‘warm up’ trek to a Kilimanjaro climb. At the summit you can look inside the crater and the views of the Momela Lakes and Mount Kilimanjaro are outstanding.

Contact us for a personal advice or how to incorporate this park in your itinerary.