Arusha

Arusha is referred to as Tanzania’s safari capital as most of the country’s safari start here, or to be more precise, at Kilimanjaro International Airport, which lies around 50km east of the town, about half way to Moshi which lies at the foot of Kilimanjaro. There is a smaller airport to the west of Arusha, from which many light aircrafts connect the town with landing strips within the various national parks. There are also a few flights to Zanzibar on slightly bigger aircrafts.

Many safaris only use Arusha as a gateway to Tanzania’s famous northern safari route, for example, the Serengeti and therefore only spend a maximum of one night in the area before or after the safari. Arusha National Park, which is around 20km from the town, therefor only receives very few visitors, which is rather a shame as it offers a wonderful hilly landscape with beautiful, high-lying, views of the famous Mount Kilimanjaro.

The park’s animal life is also good, although it can’t really bear comparison with the number and variation of animals in the parks to the west. The park’s real speciality is the extraordinary long-haired, East-African highland variant of the black and white Colobus monkey. There are also a surprising number of giraffes, if you take the hilly landscape into consideration, while buffalos, hippopotamus, warthogs, waterbucks, zebras and baboons are a common sight. The park also has elephants and leopards, which you can see with a bit of luck. A fantastic range of birds are also present, especially around a series of high lying lakes which, at some times of year are covered in thousands of pink flamingos.

In the western part of the park lies Africa’s fourth highest mountain, Mount Meru at 4,566 meters in altitude. Together with local mountain guides it is possible to climb the mountain on a three or four day trip, sleeping in huts en route. From the peak you can enjoy outstanding views, with a little luck low lying clouds can help create a nearly otherworldly experience - seeing the lonely summit of Mount Kilimanjaro hovering over the top of clouds that resembles whipped cream.

Highlights:

• Fantastic views from the summit of Mount Meru to its famous neighbor, Kilimanjaro
• The National Park with hilly, forested terrain and beautiful long haired monkeys.

High season: January to March and July to October