Easily accessible, Arusha National Park is the perfect place for a day trip so this makes it a convenient getaway either at the beginning or the end of one’s broader safari itinerary.

About Arusha National Park

At just 552 square kilometers, there’s no doubt that Arusha National Park is a small but adventure-laden wildlife paradise.

With a mountain, lakes, a crater and an incredibly diverse amount of birdlife covered mostly by green, it has a wonderful feeling of tranquility and solitude. It is dominated by Mount Meru, which at 4,566 m is the 5rd highest free-standing mountain in Africa.

You will be driven from Arusha at 8:00 am heading to Momela gate, get an armed ranger and head out on an easy paced walking safari that will give you the chance to experience tremendous amount of wildlife in the park. Picnic lunch on one of the picnic spots inside the park.

Interesting Facts

Location: Approximately an hour to an hour and a half’s drive from Arusha. Approximately ninety minutes from Moshi.

Best Time to Visit Arusha National Park

Game viewing is at its best during the dry season from June to October.

The park is excellent year-round for birding, and especially between November and April when migratory birds from Europe and North Africa are present and the local birds have their breeding plumage on display.

Getting to Arusha National Park

The Park can be accessed by road or air.

By Road: From Arusha town to Ngongongare gate, it is about 32 km.

By Air: It is about 40 km from Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Things to See

Serengeti Ndogo

The name means “Little Serengeti”, describes the open grassland, a place in the park where various animals in large numbers can easily be seen such as buffaloes, warthogs, zebras, waterbucks, giraffes, etc.

Wildlife

It’s a wildlife treasures secretly hidden in its endowment in diverse wildlife attractions too enormous and much is available here for exploration eg Black and White Colobus Monkey, Giraffes, Blue monkeys, warthogs, etc

Mount Meru

Ranked fifth highest mountain standing on an altitude of 4,566 m (14,990 feet) making it the second highest in the Tanzania. With limited ice and mist around its peak, this mountain is visible throughout the year.

Ngurdoto and Meru Crater

Densely filtrated by numerous wild animals’ variety and it’s the mostly known as the point for stop overs during game drive activity.

Birds

The park is also a home for birds for the bird watching enthusiasts thus making Arusha national park packed with a lot of incredibly diverse bird’s species, giving it a rank in the birding list in Africa. Birders your favorites place is here. The park boasts an incredibly diverse variety of bird-life, making it a popular stop for birding enthusiasts.

Tululusia Hill and Water fall

A popular hiking site that affords visitors with an excellently beautiful view of the lower reaches of the Arusha National Park as well as the two mountains of Kilimanjaro and Meru.

Lake Longil and Momella Lakes

Lake Longil is the only fresh water lake in the park, inhabited with Tilapia fish and also there are Papyrus and Mace reed floating as Islands. The Momella Lakes are alkaline lakes with considerable algae growth, each of these lakes is a different shade of green or blue.

Fig Tree Arch

A striking feature of the Fig Tree Arch (Ficus thoningii) with its roots reaching the ground while leaving behind an arch enough for a car to drive through.

Ngarenanyuki River

This river originating from the montane forest and meru crater contains a blackish water resulting from brown/alkaline water sources from the streams which joins the main river outside the park.

Things to Do

• Game drives
• Walking safari,
• Canoeing,
• Mountain Climbing
• Horse Riding

Weather & Climate

Arusha National Park’s climate is normally pleasant and mild. It is usually cool to cold at night and in the early morning and it rarely gets hot during the day. It is important to pack warm clothing for use in the evenings and game drives in the early morning.

The Dry season is from June to September,

And there are two Wet seasons: the ‘long rains’ (March to May) and the ‘short rains’ (November to December).

If you liked Arusha National Park, you must also like Kilimanjaro National Park.

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