Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park is in North Eastern Tanzania and is a legendary tourist viewing area. Established in 1960, it is the second oldest park in Tanzania. The name Arusha comes from the local Warusha people who originally were occupants of this area. However, being on the border with Kenya, it overlaps with some areas where the Masai people lived.

Arusha National Park covers Mount Meru which is an outstanding volcano with an elevation of 4,566m. Mount Meru is the second highest peak in Tanzania. Despite the park being small, it is surrounded by picturesque landscapes in three areas. Meru crater is in the west, in the South -east grasslands lies the Ngurdoto crater and the alkaline Momella lakes are in the north-east of the park. These lakes have algal colours that keep varying and are a home to the wading birds. Arusha National Park is known as the home to largest population of giraffes in the world. The landscape in this Park is comprised of open savannah, rainforest, and alpine forests.

Species diversity:
Arusha National Park is a home to a variety of wildlife. The habitual animals in this park are bushbuck, giraffe, zebra, black and white colobus monkeys, warthog, elephant to mention but a few.
The park also hosts more than 400 bird species like the bar-tailed trogon, narina trogon, silvery-cheeked hornbill, turacos, lesser pink flamingo, African jacanas, oxpecker, hammerkop, among others.

Size and accessibility:
The park covers an area of 552 Square Kilometres and can be accessed by Road and Air

By car:
The drive is about an hour from Arusha town and approximately 2 hours from Moshi Town

By air:
It is possible to fly from Kilimanjaro International Airport or Julius Nyerere International Airport to Arusha Airport. From there drive to Arusha National park.

Activities:
Game drives
Forest walks
Climbing Mt Meru
Canoeing
Visit the Ngurdoto Crater