Arusha National Park is the one most visitors drive straight past on their way to the Serengeti - and that is exactly why it is such a treat. At only 137 km² it is small, but few parks in Tanzania change scenery so quickly: montane forest, a collapsed volcanic crater, a string of alkaline lakes and grassy glades, all in an afternoon.
Ngurdoto Crater
Locals call it "Little Ngorongoro". A steep, forest-clad caldera drops away to a marshy floor where buffalo and warthog graze far below. You watch from viewpoints on the rim - the crater floor itself is protected, so the animals have it to themselves.
The Momella Lakes
A chain of shallow, mineral-rich lakes glows turquoise and green depending on the algae. Flamingos gather here in the hundreds, alongside pelicans, herons and, in the reeds, hippos. This is one of very few parks in Tanzania where you can take a guided canoe onto the water.
What you will see
Because there are no lions, Arusha is a rare park where you can get out and walk with an armed ranger. On foot or by vehicle you can expect giraffe (the park is famous for them), zebra, buffalo, bushbuck, warthog, and both black-and-white colobus and blue monkeys in the forest canopy. Above it all rises Mount Meru, Tanzania's second-highest peak.
It is green year-round and easy to combine with a canoe trip or a short walk, which makes it ideal for a first day in Tanzania or a gentle day between bigger safaris. Our reception can arrange a guide and vehicle and have you at the gate within the hour.
