The Best of Arusha Town
The Best of Arusha Town : Arusha town is the third largest city in Tanzania with almost half a million population. It is a vibrant city in North Tanzania from where most safari trips start. It is a city with magnificent view , with Mount Meru towering over the city and exotic green entwining its streets. It is just 1 hour ride from the Kilimanjaro international Airport. Arusha being a city ,there are many hotels of various varieties to chose from, the most luxurious to Budget accommodations. This makes Arusha the best place to start your discovery of Tanzania. Some of the iconic places to visit in Arusha include Tanzanite Experience shop, this where you can buy the iconic gemstone at an affordable price. The National Natural History and Arusha Declaration Museums.
Arusha is not only a tourist town in Tanzania from which one can tour several tourist destination such as Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti and other National parks. It is also a town in which most African traditions have merged from modernity brought by the thousand of tourist from all over the world visiting Tanzania, and combining both cultures into one. From the busy streets of Arusha ,it is easy to spot a Maasai warrior in their famous red robes mingling with tourist in their khaki safari outfits and locals dressed in their bright coloured clothing.
Arusha is not only a tourist hub ,apart from it being a historical and political hub it also boosts of having colonial architecture and a couple of museums. Arusha town is also the administrative town hosting a number of international organisations such as East Africa Court of Justice and East Africa Community Headquarters.
Arusha town is known and popular for hosting Cultural Heritage Centre where you will find a lot of exciting examples of both classic and contemporary African art and also one of the largest collection of paintings in Tanzania. The town has curio shops which are the best places to buy souvenirs in Africa. The town has special exhibitions of giant statues of local animals standing ,which are made from scraps and are commonly loved by visitors who enjoy taking photographs.
Weather in Arusha
There are two common seasons in Arusha Tanzania, which are the Dry season and the wet/ Rainy season.
Dry season
The dry season in Arusha, Tanzania is again divided into two season . The first one starts in the middle of June and lasts until early October. The season separate from the other season by a short period of rains until the other dry season which begins from middle December and lasts until March.
During this dry period ,there are many tourist in Arusha and the city life is most active. For those who are travelling alone it is the best time to find a company of like-minded travellers to share the fun together.
Rainy season
There are also two rainy season in Arusha, separated by a short period of no rain .The first season starts from the middle of March through early June and the other season starts from middle of October until early December.
This period is not so popular and not favourite to most tourist. The town receives very few visitors than the sunny days .During this season Arusha streets are much less busy. It is the best option to travel to the city for those who prefer to avoid the hustle and bustles of the crowds in the town.
Things to do in Arusha
Kilimanjaro climbing
From Arusha one can decide to go hike Mount Kilimanjaro. There are several routes from which have been established by Tanzania National Parks Authority in order to preserve the pristine beauty of the mountain and its wilderness for the generations to come and to ensure safety of climbers.
Lemosho and Rongai routes are recommended for the inexperienced hikers, Northern Circuit and Machame for the beginners and Marangu and Umbwe for climbers with prior hiking experience. Camping is required on all routes except Marangu where climbers sleep in Huts.
Arusha Safari
Arusha National park is the only park within Northern Tanzania where you may experience a walking safari. It is forbidden to leave your game drive vehicle outside of campsite and lodges may be forbidden in most national parks in Tanzania, in Arusha National Park offers guided nature walks are guided with an armed ranger.
Chemka Hot springs
Checkable oasis is one of the unique phenomenon found in the Arusha region in Tanzania. It is the only place in Tanzania and even in the whole of East Africa where the ground water actively interacted with geothermal sources which in turn forms a number of small lakes with warm water
Arusha Airport
Arusha Airport (ARK) is a regional airport which connects the town of Arusha to the main tourism and business destinations in Tanzania and other regions. From Arusha Airport one can fly to Zanzibar, the cities of Dar es salaam, Dodoma, Mwanza, Mombasa and Kigali and the islands of Pemba and Mafia.
There are domestic airlines that operate flights to National parks such as Serengeti National park, Tarangire National Park, and Lake Manyara National Park which take less than an hour from Arusha Airport. A trip to Ruaha or Selous National parks will take a bit longer.
Arusha Airport is rather small and does not offer some of the services normally found in large international airports. It is recommended that you come to the airport at least one and half hours in advance, because the online check in is rarely available. The other reason that will require you to leave your hotel a bit early is to beat traffic jam which is notorious to most East African towns.
Hotels in Arusha
Arusha is one of the largest tourism centres in East Africa, it has a lot of hotels for all taste and budgets. Here at Arusha you will find both luxury boutique lodges for a sophisticated traveller. Some hotels are placed in quiet neighbourhoods for a more secluded experience, other facilities are in the very city centre.
Some of the best hotels to have a wonderful relaxation in Arusha include; Mvuli hotel, Gran Melia Arusha, The African Tulip, Meru view Lodge , zawadi House lodge, kili villa among others.
