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Arusha National parks

 

Arusha National Park

 

The closest national park in to Arusha town, Arusha National Park is a multi-faceted jewel, often overlooked by safari goers, despite offering the opportunity to explore a beguiling diversity of habitats within a few hours.

Size: 137sq km, Location: Northern Tanzania, Northeast of Arusha town

Getting there: an easy 40minute drive from Arusha. Approximately 60km from Kilimanjaro International Airport. The lakes, forest and NgurdotoCrater can all be visited of course of a half a day outing at the beginning or end of extended northern safari.

What to do: Forest walks, numerous picnic sites, three or four day Mt. Meru climb.

When to go: to climb Mt. Meru, June – February although it may rain in November. Best views of Kilimanjaro December – February.

Accommodation: A lodge, two rest houses, camp sites, two mountain huts inside the park; two lodges at Usa River outside the park and many hotels and hostels in Arusha.

 

Lake Manyara National Park

 

Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty gold 600 meters high Rifty valley escarpments, Lk. Manayara is a scenic gem with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as the “loveliest I had seen in Africa” The compact game viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzania safari experience

Size: 330sq km, of which up to 200sq km is lake when water levels are high.

Location: in northern Tanzania. The entrance gate lies 1.5hrs 126km west of Arusha along a newly surfaced road close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.

Getting there: by road, Charter or scheduled flight from Arusha en route to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. 

What to do: Game drives, canoeing when the water level is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, mountain bike tours, abseiling and forest walks on the escarpments outside the park.

When to go: Dry season (July- October) to see large mammals; wet season (November- June) for bird watching, the waterfalls and canoeing.

Accommodation: one luxury tree house style camp, public bandas, and campsites inside the park. One luxury tented camp and two lodges perched on the rift wall overlooking the lake. Several guesthouses and campsites nearby Mto wa Mbu.   

 

Ngorongoro Crater

 

The Ngorongoro Crater is often called Africa’s Eden and the 8th Natural Wonder of the World, a visit to the crater is a main draw card for tourist coming to Tanzania and a definite world class attraction. Within the crater rim, large herds of zebras and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun.

Size: 8,300sqkm

Location: within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the eastern edge of Serengeti

Getting there: Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara and Tarangire.

 What to do: Besides vehicle safaris to Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge and surrounding attractions, hiking treks through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

When to go : All year round. To follow the Wildebeest migration December – July. To see predators, June – October

Accommodation: Two luxury lodges.

 

Serengeti National Park

 

A million wildebeest each one driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life: A frenzied three week bout of territorial conquest and mating: survival for the fittest 40km long columns plunge through crocodile infested waters on the annual exodus north. This trek replenishes the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000km pilgrimage begins again.

Size: 147,763 sq km

Location: 335 km from Arusha, stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.

Getting there: scheduled and charter flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara and Mwanza. Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Ngorongoro Crater.

What to do: hot air balloon safaris, Maasai rock paintings, and musical rocks. Visit neighboring Ngorongoro crater, Olduvai Gorge, Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano and Lake Natron’s flamingoes.

When to go: to follow the wildebeest migration, December – July to see predators, June – October.

Accommodation: four lodges, four luxury tented camps and camp sites scattered through the park; one luxury camp a lodge and two tented camps just outside.  

 

Tarangire National Park

 

Day after day of cloudless skies. The fierce sun sucks the moisture form the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red the withered grass as brittle as straw. The Tarangire River has shriveled to a shadow of its wet season self. But it is chocked with wildlife. Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that here, always, there is water

Size: 2,600sq km

Location: 118 km southwest of Arusha

Getting there: easy drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, following a surfaced road to within 7 km of the main entrance gate; can continue on to Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti. Charter flights from Arusha and the Serengeti.  

What to do: guided walking safaris. Day trips to Maasai and Barabaig villages, as well as to hundreds of ancient rock paintings in the vicinity of Kolo on the Dodoma road.

When to go: year round but dry season (June – September) for sheer number of animals.

Accommodation: one lodge, one tented lodge, one luxury tented camp inside the park, another half dozen exclusive lodges and tented camps immediately outside the borders. Campsites in and around the park.