Arusha National Park

Small but plenty - but no big cats

We visited as a day trip between Moshi and Arusha while on a business trip, and for this purpose - to get a short glimpse into the Wildlife - this park is perfect. It takes less than an hour to drive there, and you do not necessarily need a 4WD. Entrance fees are lower than in Serengeti and there is plenty of accommodation within half an hours drive.

It is also refreshingly uncroweded. We were there quite lat,e but there were one, maybe two other vehicles, and other than by Momella Lake, we were on our own. Roads tend to be dirt, and ther eis a lot of grass and bush on the side, which makes animal spotting a little harder. After a while (when you come from the main entrance off the main Moshi Highway) the scenery will change alot - first you'll be rewarded with magnificient views of Mount Meru, then you get pictures like in an Africa storybook - complete with giraffes and zebras.

This may not be the park where you get close to a lot of animals, but it feels like you can view them in their natural habitat withour driving right through it, and this makes it somehow more authentic.

Last not least it has Momella Lakes, breeding place of thousands of flamingoes - this is quite unique in Tanzania, maybe even Africa, and although you can take the long drive to Lake Natron, there is nothing that makes the experience superior there.

We saw flamingos, giraffes zebras, buffalo, gazelles, monkeys and lots of unnamed birds aplenty. Sometimes you may spot an elephant, but there are definitely no big cats here.

In summary, this is a small but fine NAtional Park with good infrastructure, easily visited as a daytrip.

Arusha National Park is a green paradise

I have been in Arusha National Park several times, and the park never disappoints me. Of course it depends on what you are looking for. Arusha National Park is not comparable to Serengeti, Tarangire and other parks in Tanzania. But the park is great in its own way. There are, they say no big cats in the park ... but I have actually seen a leopard once crossing the road upp the mountain. The park sits on the eastern slopes of Mt Meru and you can drive upp quite high upp almost beyond the tree limit. Also the park features walking safari and canoeing. The later I have not tested but I can recommend the walking safari. Both in the lowlands walking to a water fall. And upp in the mountain ... (you need a guide with a gun on the walking safari). The park have both rainforests and small grass plains. You will I can almost promise you see buffalo, zebra, giraffe, waterbuck, flamingo, and two different kinds of monkey (not counting baboon) - the blue monkey and the colobus monkey. I do not know about accommodations today. But there are a lot of hotels close to the park. Arusha national Park was one of our usual day trip from where we used to live when I lived in Tanzania. So I really love the park. This time it was also a day trip and it was the first time for me with a safari company - Mlimani Safaris Africa. And I can recommend them to. So my conclusion is. If you are visiting Arusha for other purposes than Safari (business / conferences) and do not have time for a long safari. Arusha National Park is the place to go. If you have been in the other bigger parks and are tired of big plains and dusty roads, but still wants some wildlife and nature experience. This is the place to go. Or if you like the shade of a jungle. Don't miss Arusha National Park.

Wonderful walking safari in Arusha NP

On my most recent trip to Tanzania (September 2015), the first park we visited was Arusha National Park. In the morning, we took a "regular" game drive through the park, on which we were introduced to Tanzania's wildlife slowly but surely--we saw monkeys, birds and giraffes, among others. What makes Arusha NP special for me, though, is the walking safari we took in the late afternoon the same day. For obvious reasons, you can't get very close to most animals on foot (which is a good thing, of course--I would not have wanted to be any closer to the herd of buffalos we saw from afar), but we still managed to see a pair of giraffes less than 50 m away. Walking through a national park certainly puts things into perspective, especially the size of both the park and the animals. It feels very different walking paths similar to the ones you've already driven across, and gives you a new appreciation for safaris as a whole. It also adds to the "bush vibe" of the entire country, because it feels like it's just you and the animals.

The Safari was an amazing African experience

My visit to Arusha National Park was an amazing experience and a great way to start off my trip to Tanzania! My full day safari in Arusha National Park was one of amazing landscapes and views, as well as incredible wildlife! We witnessed many different species of animals from Blue Monkeys and Baboons to giraffes and numerous birds. One of the highlights of the safari was visiting the Momela Lakes where we viewed thousands of pink flamingos. Even though Arusha National Park doesn't have the large cats such as lions and cheetahs, there are many other amazing species to witness while you are there. An amazing national park to visit for sure!

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.

This was the only park where we say lots of blue monkeys swinging in the trees. We also spotted one group of Colobus monkeys who are only seen near/on Mt. Kilamanjaro. We saw a larger population of baboons than other parks. We were close to a group of Cape buffalo, giraffes and wart hogs. We got a 2 hour guided walking tour from the ranger there. This took us to a waterfall and he gave us good information about the animals.

Arusha walking Safari was one of the highlights for me. We were able to get quite close to a giraffe and it was incredible to see how big they really are when you are standing on the ground next to them.

Less Crowded but Plenty to See

Arusha National Park was our first destination on our two week Safari in Tanzania and Kenya. What we really liked about the park is it is smaller and less crowded than the other parks, but still had a good variety of wildlife. We were excited to see our first baboon, but then saw large groups that were fascinating to watch. We encountered our first elephants with 10 feet of the Land Cruiser. We say Colobus monkeys jumping from tree to tree and some very cute blue monkeys. We also saw a few giraffes. Didn't see any cats, but saw plenty at other locations. Arusha was fairly close to our lodge, so we got back in time to relax. We did not run into any bugs. We highly recommend Arusha.

For a day trip, Arusha National Park is pretty special.

I only had one day to spend on seeing wildlife after a week of work in Arusha. Arusha National Park proved to be a very accessible location. It is easy to get to and has an abundance of wildlife if you're prepared to spend some time to look around. It may not have all the animals, but if you go with the proper expectations you will not be disappointed.

Very quiet, lush, and green. Flamingos and giraffes highlight this park. Walking safaris available. In our walking safari - treks to waterfalls - we spent about half an hour walking literally meters away from a family of giraffes. As long as we stayed quiet, they let us accompany them before they broke off from us slowly. Surreally experience.