For those of you that like to explore different area’s in small sections, and not be confined to a safari vehicle for long periods, Arusha National Park and other well kept secrets toward the park and onto West-Kilimanjaro are definitely worth putting some days aside for.

The drive (from Arusha) itself is short; coffee plantations and small towns with busy daily life keep you entertained for the 50 minutes till you turn off onto a gravel road and start ascending towards the park gate.
Little Serengeti will appear out of the trees and is usually very rewarding, slow moving giraffe stride across the open grass land, small herds of zebra graze along with water buck, wart hogs take off at high speed with tail raised as if on an electric wire. It’s the perfect start to any Safari with the added bonus of having the freedom to make a half day walking with an armed ranger.

The park has three distinct zones: Ngurdoto Crater, Momella Lakes, which are a group of shallow alkaline lakes fed by underground streams, and Mount Meru, one of the most rewarding mountains to climb in Africa. Full day walks are also possible, a round trip through the lower reaches of Meru are spectacular with the wonderful fairytale like rain forest with hanging mose( Old mans beard). Teracoo flash through the canopy overhead in blazing blues, also black and white colobus monkeys are a common site.

If you are thinking of trekking up the slopes of Mt. Meru to her summit (4566 m.) which is reached along screed knife ridged slops then allow yourself the extra day to enjoy the return through the rain forest. The climb can be done in 3 days but this will leave you feeling tired for a day afterwards as you head to the summit then ascend to the park gate in one day. It’s a lot of down hill for anybody. The 4 day gives you the feedom to drop down part way then continue the following day for a easy descent through the rain forest.

You can read much more on our climbs of Mt. Meru on this page…

Activities

• Game drives of the park
• Half-day walking safaris on the foothills of Mt. Meru
• Canoeing around Momella lake to get close to water buffalo, hippo and many types of water birds, including lesser east African flamingo.

Features

Mount Meru, Momella lakes, rolling hills, lush forest, Ngurdoto Crater, little Serengeti, zebra, waterbuck, bushbuck, warthog, wild pig, giraffe, dik dik, elephant, buffalo, hippo, hyena, leopard, sykes (blue) monkey, vervet monkey, baboon, black and white colobus, bush babies. Great birding, butterflies, chameleons and smaller reptiles.

Best time to visit

Year round for game activities – for climbing Mt Meru the same goes as for Mt. Kilimanjaro; July – early October and December – March.