Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park is the nearest park to Arusha town, a short drive to the east, and it packs a lot into a small area: the forested slopes and summit of Mount Meru, the Momella Lakes and the steep-sided Ngurdoto Crater. Most visitors come for a day at the start or end of a safari, and it is one of the few northern parks where you can walk with an armed ranger.

The lower park is a mix of montane forest, open glades and lakes. Black-and-white colobus monkeys are its signature animal, alongside blue monkeys, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, warthog, waterbuck and hippo, and more than 400 bird species have been recorded. The shallow, alkaline Momella Lakes each take a different colour from their algae and minerals and often hold flamingos. Ngurdoto Crater, about 3.6 kilometres across, is viewed from its forested rim; its marshy floor is left to the wildlife.

Mount Meru, at 4,566 metres, is Tanzania's second-highest mountain and the centrepiece of the park. It is a volcano whose eastern wall collapsed long ago, leaving a horseshoe of cliffs around an ash cone, and climbers take three or four days to reach the summit, sleeping in mountain huts. Many use it to acclimatise before Kilimanjaro. See our Mount Meru page or ask your specialist.