Attractions

Attractions in Arusha National Park : Arusha National Park is a small but adventure-filled wildlife sanctuary, covering only 552 square kilometers. Arusha National Park is just a few kilometers from Arusha town on Tanzania’s northern safari circuit. The park has a high density of species and is home to the world’s greatest giraffe population. On a game drive in this park, you can see Cape buffalo, elephants, hippos, and zebra in abundance, as well as the occasional lion and leopard. You won’t have to drive far after arriving in Arusha town so as to be surrounded by the African wilderness. Canoeing, walking safaris, and game drives are just a few of the many activities available here, and they make for an excellent start to any of the northern circuit safari park such as the Ngorongoro to thrill while on Tanzania Safaris Tours.

Arusha National Park is one of Tanzania’s most accessible parks, and it’s a superb day trip destination that can be used to start or conclude any Tanzanian itinerary. The park contains a diverse range of habitats, from extensive grassland and rainforest to acacia forests and alpine plants in Mount Meru’s upper reaches. The Arusha National Park includes Mt. Meru’s lower slopes, peak, and ash cone, as well as the Momella Lakes, Ngurdoto Crater, and lush highland forests. The top attractions in the Arusha National Park are listed below.

The wildlife and vegetation

This is the first attraction you’ll come across while visiting Arusha National Park. Although it cannot be compared to the Serengeti, Arusha National Park is home to a diverse range of distinct mammal species, with the giraffe population being larger than that of other mammals. The African elephant, Cape buffalo, hippo, zebra, water bucks, cape buffaloes, blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, turacos, trogons, and wildebeest are among the other wild animals in the park. Lions and leopards are among the predators that can be seen in the park, but not as frequently as other mammals like giraffes.

Aside from land mammals, the park is home to a variety of avian species. For bird watchers, this means that Arusha National Park is home to a large number of extremely different bird species, earning it a place on Africa’s best birding paradise. African fish eagle, African olive pigeon, Augur buzzard, bar-tailed trogon, bearded vulture, Black saw-wing, Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, Egyptian goose, Great crested grebe, Hartlaub’s turaco, Little grebe, Narina trogon, Peregrine falcon, Red-fronted parrot, Scaly francolin, Silvery-cheeked hornbill are among bird species found in this national park, Attractions in Arusha National Park

The park offers guided canoe cruises, game drives, and walking Tanzania safari packages for wildlife and bird enthusiasts who want to get up close and personal with these wonderful beasts. Furthermore, Arusha’s unrivaled diversity of fascinating landscapes includes an expansive open savanna that transitions to a stretch of acacia scrubland before ending in a beautiful rainforest. The alpine conditions on the lofty sides of beautiful Mt. Meru only add to the national park’s picturesque background.

Mount Meru,

Apart from the fauna, Mount Meru is another prominent and important attraction in the Arusha national park. Mount Meru, which is located within the park, is Tanzania’s second tallest mountain after Mount Kilimanjaro, and Africa’s fifth largest mountain. Mount Meru is a dormant stratovolcano on the African continent. On a clear day, it may be seen from Mount Kilimanjaro at a height of 4,562.13 meters.

Climbing Mount Meru, Tanzania’s second highest mountain, is fantastic since there is no traffic and you get to see a lot of wildlife as you climb past wild animals. Mount Meru hiking takes over four days to reach the mountain’s highest peak, known as the “social peak,” although it only takes three days for a true hiker to ascend and descend the mountain. With little ice and mist around its peak, this mountain is visible all year, unlike Mount Kilimanjaro, which is often shy and hides behind ice-filled clouds, Attractions in Arusha National Park.

 Climbing is amazing and exhausting, but it’s worth it to endure the agony and see what others can’t. Not only does the journey provide a breathtaking perspective of Kilimanjaro from the summit, but it also serves as a rewarding walking safari that takes you through a variety of ecosystems where you can see giraffes, elephants, antelopes, and other wildlife.

Little/Mini Serengeti

Another attraction in the Arusha national park is the Serengeti Ndogo, sometimes known as the “Little Serengeti”. The mini Serengeti was created to help grazing animals like zebras who can’t browse, as well as to make animal viewing easier. Because the Arusha national park habitats are mostly forest and shrubs, they can’t support grazing animals, and game viewing is poor. The mini Serengeti was purposefully created to address that problem.

Arusha National Park’s Little Serengeti is now an open grassland where elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, warthogs, waterbucks, and other Tanzania wildlife graze. It is the first sight you will encounter in the park if you arrive through the Ngongongare gate, especially if you enter from the road to Momella. However, the animals only congregate in this place in the mornings, and become increasingly scarce as the day progresses. It’s one of the few open grasslands inside the park, and its size and quantity of animals are more than enough to transport you to the Serengeti plains.

Lake Longil

This is another attraction in the Arusha National Park, and it is the park’s sole freshwater lake. It is excellent for observing buffaloes and waterbucks, but some water-loving species like the Egyptian goose may also be seen and found here because it is their watering site. The Momella lakes, for example, are saline-water lakes.

Ngurudoto Craters

This pear-shaped Ngurdoto, which resembles a microcosm of the Ngorongoro crater. The snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Momella lakes, and the lower slope with human settlements can all be seen from this vantage point. The Ngurudoto crater, together with the Ngorongoro crater, Empakai crater, and Olmoti crater in the Ngorongoro conservation area, is one of four spectacular volcanic calderas in northern Tanzania while on Tanzania Safaris. The crater has a depth of 300 meters and a diameter of 3.2 kilometers, Attractions in Arusha National Park.

Unlike the Ngorongoro crater, the walls of the Ngurdoto crater are too soft for cars to enter, making wildlife drives impossible, leaving only walking safaris. The crater is encircled by a lush jungle teeming with life. This covers a portion of the crater floor, with the remainder being an evergreen swamp that serves as a grazing field for the local buffalo herd. Several types of monkeys, birds, dik diks, and even elephants.

Ngurudoto museum

The Ngurudoto museum is devoted to displaying the various species of creatures that may be found within the Ngurudoto crater. It houses taxidermy, bones, and remains, as well as other information about these species, and is a good site to learn about them before visiting the crater. A souvenir shop, modern flushing facilities, a small car park, and a ranger post with quarters and all are also available at the museum. Colobus monkeys, baboons, and a few bird species are among the animals that can be spotted there.

Lake Momella

It’s a kind of unique feature in this national park; they’re alkaline lakes with shallow waters that come from underground sources, and on their bottoms grow a lot of algae, which many water birds that reside on the coasts eat. Many water birds, both permanent and migrant, such as greater pink flamingos, lesser pink flamingos, pelicans, Egyptian geese, guinea fowls, African fish eagles, African jacanas, and others, use these lakes as a breeding ground. Despite the fact that animals do not drink from these lakes’ waters due to their alkalinity, zebras, giraffes, waterbucks, dik-dik, and duikers can be found around their shores, Attractions in Arusha National Park.

Other Arusha national park attractions include fig tree arch, Tululusia waterfall, cave waterfalls, rhino view point etc.