Arusha National Park

A small safari to get you started on your Tanzania adventure

My time in Tanzania was to start on the Serengeti, move to Ngorongoro Crater, then to Tarangire, and finish at Arusha National Park. After doing some research I changed that order and reversed it...and I am glad I did.

Arusha National Park is far smaller than the other parks and doesn't have the larger wildlife the other parks have like elphants, hippos, rhinos, etc. What it does have is a thriving flamingo population, baboons, and black and white colobus monkeys. It is a great park to start your journey through Tanzania because it gives you a way to sort of dip your toes into the safari travel without being immersed in it. The roads are dirt, the wildlife is right outside of your car, the views are beautiful but it is a small park and the animals are smaller and less intimidating than other parks.

We stopped for lunch at a picnic grounds and could see baboons around the restroom area maybe 30 feet from us waiting for us to leave so they could scavenge any food we left behind. Impressive animals but at no time did I feel threatened. The lakes were filled with greater and lesser flamingos in the thousands. The Black and White Colobus monkeys played in the trees above our heads in the jungle sections of the park. And the bird species were innumerable.

You will get a feel of a safari vehicle riding on dirt roads, get a bit of jungle, plains, lakes, etc that you will encounter at the larger parks without feeling over-whelmed. But Arusha is simply not as thrilling as the big three. The Serengeti is unmatched, Ngorongoro is unique, and Tarangire provides amazing landscapes as backdrops to the many elephants in the park. The other three are better for seeing the big 5 and most of the animals you came to Tanzania to see, but Arusha is a good way to start your journey...just don't finish it there or you will be disappointed. But when you start there...you get a brief look at the bigger things to come.

A wonderful variety of wildlife and habitats with many opportunities for close encounters!

Arusha national park is only a short drive from Arusha itself and is a great introductory day for your safari trip. Whilst smaller than a lot of the other game reserves you may visit Arusha offers a fantastic range of wildlife and habitats; from rainforest to open grass planes and lakes. If you are interested in birds then Arusha is a paradise of abundance and my personal highlights include a crested eagle, hoopoe, kingfishers (nesting by the road), grey crowned cranes and of course the thousands of flamingo.

In terms of animals there is also a huge range of things you can see in a very beautiful setting. Of particular interest would be the beautiful black and white colobus monkeys that you are unlikely to see elsewhere. You will also see many troops of baboons, giraffe, buffalo as well as a variety of antelope.

Whilst the tour of Arusha is mostly driven, there is the opportunity to take a walking tour, which i think is worth it. You will get closer to some of the wildlife and see more of the beautiful landscape.

All in all it is definately worth a visit to Arusha national park. You will see all of the park in a day so its just a quick trip before you depart for the larger reserves such as Tarangire or the Serengeti,

Beautiful landscape of stunning variety.

Arusha National Park has an incredible diversity of landscape for its small size, ranging from savannah, to soda lakes, forests with craters, and the slope of Mount Meru itself.

Arusha National Park is lusher and has thicker vegetation than the other Parks we visited. However, it has some unique bird species and well as the charismatic black and white Colobus monkey.

Not as open as Serengeti and Ngorongoro makes the park more hard spotting wildlife and wildlife is far from abundant. However scenery is excellent with mount Meru and Mt. Kilimandjaro in the background.

Lot of birds in the park, good sightings and also the special Black and white Colobus monkey are in the park. Nice tropical rainforest.

Arusha National Park should be done at the beginning of the trip. After the overwhelming wildlife in the other parks, Arusha National Park seemed to be a little less exciting.

It's a solid park and easy to fit in with any travel plans that pass through Arusha. There are definitely better parks in Tanzania.

Monkeying about in Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park is a small park close to the town of Arusha and Kilimanjaro Airport. While it boasts a rich variety of wildlife, you shouldn't expect the same game-viewing experience you will find in other national parks of Tanzania's northern circuit. It does have numerous black-and-white colobus monkey which are easily visible and are not found in the other parks. Common animals include giraffe, buffalo, zebra, bushbuck and warthog. In the northeast, the shallow alkaline Momella Lakes provide habitat for numerous species of water birds including Lesser and Greater Flamingo. Forest birds require work to see but experienced birders may be rewarded for their efforts. This park can be by-passed if on a tight schedule and or budget. I rate thes park Poor for wildlife photography.

Beautiful and lush, loved this park! Lower number of game to see, but we were never disappointed - still saw lots of wildlife.