Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park |Top Things to Do in Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park,  Arusha National Park is a prime Tanzania safaris park right in the heart of the Tanzania tourist’s capital. Arusha National Park is one of Tanzania’s closest national parks which doesn’t require you driving journeys to reach. It’s located close to Arusha city, the park is one of the most convenient to visit and is endowed with fantastic gigs. A trip to this park can initiate you into Tanzania’s rich adventure.

Arusha National Park features a wide range of landscapes that spread from the vast savannah, limited rain forests, and acacia woods and alpine on high altitudes. The park just hosts greater numbers of wildlife species and boasts for the largest population of the giraffe population. The park has an International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) category II located within the district of Meru and Arusha Rural district of the Arusha region.

Feature of Arusha National Park

The span of 552km² features diverse landscapes from the dormant volcanic Ngurdoto Crater and the isolated Mount Meru and the shallow Momella Lakes. The park is covered with dense montane forests, open grasslands, swamps, streams which support a variety of flora and fauna.

Accessing Arusha National Park

Within the Northern safari circuit, the park lays in the northeastern bends of Tanzania. One of the easiest parks to reach by vehicle driving from Arusha city within a limit of an hour. Public means can as well be used as buses that go from Arusha and Ngare Nanyuki village to Ngongongar gate.

Wildlife at Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park hosts a rich ecosystem which accommodates variety of wildlife. Taking this simple drive from the city of Arusha expect to see animals like giraffe, Cape buffalo, zebra, warthog, the black-and-white colobus monkey, the blue monkey, flamingo, elephant, bushbuck and many other African animals. Birdlife in the forest is prolific, with many forest species more easily seen than elsewhere on the tourist route – Narina trogon and bar-tailed trogon are both possible highlights for visiting birders, whilst the range of starling species provide somewhat less gaudy interest.

Best time to visit Arusha National Park

You don’t need time intervals and season studies to visit this park, in this the park can be visited throughout the year. However, the dry season suggest the perfect timing of watching a wider range of wildlife. During the dry season, grasses are shorter due to higher temperatures and the grass tend not to grow tall and remain golden to less animal hiding. The dry months June, July, August, September and October. And for birding experiences are more interesting during the months of November, December, January, February, March, and April, during these months’ migratory birds from Europe and North Africa flood at the park.

Adventures at Arusha National Park

Game drives

Always game drives have proved being the best ways of experiencing the savannah life. With your 4wd safari rooftop open vehicle, having an armed guide with you, you got all the liberty yo explore what Arusha national park can add on Tanzania safari experiences. Game drive exposes you to countless animals like the big fives, herds of antelopes, and towers of giraffes among others. The game drive at Arusha National Park can take about 3 hours enjoy the best side of the park.

Climbing Mount Meru

Climbing experiences like finding summit of Mount Meru is getting to Tanzania’s 2^nd tallest mountain and the 5^th in Africa. Mount Meru has an elevation of 4566m above sea level, and is said that this mountain was once higher than this but it exploded about 5 times outwards 5 hundred thousand years ago which left giant horse shoe shape crater wall at the steep slope. Many of the guest have considered Mount Meru to be more challenging than Kilimanjaro. The hike to the summit of Mount Meru can last for 3 to 4 days through lower slopes, rivers and waterfalls for the clear views of the Kilimanjaro range, ashy, stray and Mount Meru crater besides many animals.

Canoeing adventure experience

Taking a canoeing adventure is done at Lake Momella and Lake Duluti with sufficient waters to undertake the canoeing sessions. Drift along the shallow waters in a canoe while enjoying scenic views of the surrounding bush and wildlife coming to the shores for a drink. Canoe trips often last 2-3 hours and are a great alternative to the traditional safari experience. The fiberglass canoes fit two people, and at the time of writing, cost $24 per adult and $12 per child (8-years old and above only).

Guided Nature Walks

Explore Arusha National Park on foot with this incredible take of nature walks, there is limited dangerous animals which allows jungle wandering. There are various walking trails that go even below Mount Meru, Ngurdoto crater, Kitoto to Njeku view point. The walk is only possible under the guidance of an armed ranger guide through the marsh bushes and streams that offer awesome scenery meters away from animals.

Bird watching

The park accommodates over 400 bird species of which some are endemic, and a wider number of bird species are migratory birds. Mainly birding is done at Lake Momella and surround forests with an incredible bird species.