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Arusha National Park |
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| Brief Profile: |
- Located only 35km from Arusha town
- Giraffe, Buffalo and elephant are common
- Black-and-white colobus monkeys live here
- No lions but there are leopards
- Kilimanjaro two-horned chameleons may be seen
- More than 575 species of birds identified
- Diverse habitat for tropical butterflies
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Arusha Nationial Park is small, covering an area of 137 sq km (53 sq miles), but has stunning scenery, ranging from the lofty peaks of Mt Meru (5th highest peak in Africa) and its magnificent montane forests, to craters, open glades and the alkaline Momela Lakes - from which one can see both Meru and Kilimanjaro on a clear day. A little gem of a National Park and is a perfect way to begin or end an African safari.
Around 570 species of bird have been recorded in the park, along with a wide variety of butterflies and other wildlife. Only an hour's drive from Arusha, the park is often overlooked in the rush to head off on the Serengeti circuit, but is it well worth a visit. |
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| To the left of the park boundary is the area known as little Serengeti - a large, open glade with giraffe, zebra, buffalo, warthogs and the occasional bushbuck on the woodland periphery. From the gate at Ngurdoto, the road winds up through the forest to the Ngurdoto Crater where black and white colobus monkeys can be seen. The Ngurdoto Crater is also an extinct former volcano. Molten rocks, possibly from two cones, withdrew towards the earth's centre creating Ngurdoto which, like Ngorongoro, is a caldera created by the inward collapse of a volcano. From lookout points along the crater rim, one can see herds of buffalo, giraffe and warthog grazing the grasslands on the crater floor. |
To the left of the park boundary is the area known as little Serengeti - a large, open glade with giraffe, zebra, buffalo, warthogs and the occasional bushbuck on the woodland periphery. From the gate at Ngurdoto, the road winds up through the forest to the Ngurdoto Crater where black and white colobus monkeys can be seen. The Ngurdoto Crater is also an extinct former volcano. Molten rocks, possibly from two cones, withdrew towards the earth's centre creating Ngurdoto which, like Ngorongoro, is a caldera created by the inward collapse of a volcano. From lookout points along the crater rim, one can see herds of buffalo, giraffe and warthog grazing the grasslands on the crater floor.
The road through the park to Momela lakes descends from the Ngurdoto forest to the Lokie swamp and two small lakes, Jembamba and Longil, with hippo, waterbuck and reedbuck, saddlebill storks, heron and Egyptian geese, before reaching the grassland and thornbush around the Momela lakes. A mixture of wildlife, from giraffe to warthog, and a diverse range of birds are commonly seen. Here one appreciates the scale of Mt Meru, when clear of cloud.
Mt Meru at 4,565 metres (15,064 feet), towers over Arusha town. Known by the local Maasai people as Ol Doinyo Orok, meaning the "black mountain". The moods of Mount Meru vary wildly. In the winter months, snow briefly dusts the summit while for the remainder of the year it is sunbathed. Once it was a volcano, but is now extinct - the last minor eruption occurred in 1877. Climbers from throughout the world come to conquer Mt Meru and the nearby Mt Kilimanjaro. Three days should be allowed for the ascent and descent of Mt Meru and armed and trained parks guides are compulsory in case dangerous animals are encountered.
One of the most outstanding features of Arusha National Park is the bewildering array of butterflies. There are about 18,000 butterflies worldwide, over 20% of them in Africa. Tanzania, with some 1,400 species, has the highest number in east Africa. |
Best time to visit:
The best time to visity Arusha NP is during the dry season from Jul - Nov, or after the short rains from Dec-March. The best months to climb Mt Meru are June - Feb. The park lies just 25km east of Arusha and is ideal for a rewarding day trip from Arusha or Moshi. |
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