Arusha National Park Tanzania Safari

Arusha National Park may not be as famous as the Tanzania safari destination of Serengeti National Park but definitely a great tour park for a short trip from Arusha town. The park is accessible with just about 59.5 km on a road drive of about 1h 37 min.

Arusha National Park covers about 552 sq km (212 sq miles). Many tourists actually overlook visiting the park during their safaris in Tanzania because of the thought that they may not see the numerous wildlife like in other parks.

However, the park has a lot to offer and dazzles with a perfect mix of flora and fauna in diversified landscapes in the northern safari circuit.

The park has incredible scenery including the Meru crater in the west, Ngurdoto Crater in the south-east to the grasslands, and alkaline Momella Lakes in the north-east.

The most noticeable feature in the park is Mount Meru. Mount Meru is about 4,566 m above sea level and the fourth highest mountain in Africa.

Wildlife in Arusha National Park

Some of the wildlife in the park include baboons, buffalos, bushbucks, warthogs, zebras, elephants, giraffe, hippos, and leopards. Towards the Ngurdoto crater is a lush rainforest which is a great place to spot the black and white colobus monkey as well as the elegant mitis monkey.

The Ngurdoto crater is a “smaller” version of the Ngorongoro crater which is filled with wildlife and even buffaloes could be spotted on the crater floor. Giraffes are very common in the area around Momella lakes, if you are lucky you might also spot a shy red duiker or even the smaller Kirk’s dik-dik.

Buffaloes in Arusha National Park Tanzania Safari

Activities to do in the park

Activities in the park include mountain Hiking, game drives, horse riding, biking, canoeing, and nature walks.

Walking safaris or nature walks are permitted in Arusha National Park because of the low number of predators in the park. If any person wishes to get very close to nature, then a walking safari should be a must-do where you get a closer look at the moss-covered trees and wildlife.

The most common wildlife sightings during walking safaris in Arusha National Park include buffaloes, warthogs, giraffes, and a variety of birds like the hornbill, little bee-eater, and the long-crested eagle.

The nature walk takes tourists to the refreshing Tululusia waterfalls and back to the Momella gate where visitors are in for a treat as common waterbucks and reedbucks love to hang around the lakeshore. Birds like the cormorants, kingfishers, and beautiful flamingos are also often spotted.

Canoeing is mostly done at the Momella lakes, a group of alkaline lakes found in the park.

Best time to visit Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park can be visited all year throughout, however, the best time is during the dry season which is from June to October. During these times the rain totals are low and it is the best time for wildlife viewing because the grass is short which eases photography and wildlife concentrate in areas with water making it easy to spot them.

The peak of the wet season which is March to April, some roads might become difficult to navigate which may interfere with wildlife viewing.

The popular trip to the park is the Arusha National Park Day Trip where tourists visit the park in a single day tour starting and ending in Arusha town. Tanzania safaris are a top choice for any African tours because of the various national parks that host lots of wildlife.

One of the most common activities is seeing the annual wildebeest migration which is one spectacular view of millions of wildebeest as they migrate through the Serengeti Ecosystem of Tanzania to the Masai Mara National Reserve of Kenya.

We also help plan trips to any other destinations in Tanzania, Kenya safaris, Uganda gorilla safaris, and other trips as well as Rwanda gorilla tours and chimpanzee trekking trips.