Ngurdoto Crater
A small forested caldera with buffalo and warthog grazing the floor. You drive the rim and look down into it; nobody is allowed to descend, which is why it stays as it is.
On the slopes of Mount Meru
Arusha National Park
Size
Mount Meru rises to 4,566 m
Best time
Any month; clearest views of Kilimanjaro from June to February
Getting there
1 hr by road from Arusha
Location
On the slopes of Mount Meru
Where it is
How to get there
- By road — about an hour from Arusha, and 45 minutes from Kilimanjaro International.
- On foot — the Meru trek starts at Momella gate inside the park.
Best time to visit Any month; clearest views of Kilimanjaro from June to February
What to see
Attractions
The Momella lakes
A chain of shallow alkaline lakes, each a slightly different colour because of the algae in it. Flamingo, and the only place on the circuit you can canoe.
Mount Meru
Africa's fifth-highest mountain, 4,566 metres, with the crater wall blown away on one side. The four-day trek starts at Momella gate.
The fig arch and Tululusia falls
A strangler fig grown into an arch big enough to drive a vehicle through, and a waterfall an hour's walk from the gate.
What to do
Activities
Walking safari
With an armed ranger, because of the buffalo. There are no lion in this park, which is precisely why walking is allowed.
Canoeing
On the Momella lakes, among waterbuck and flamingo, with Meru behind you. Two hours, and no experience needed.
Game drive
The Ngurdoto rim and the lakes circuit in half a day — colobus, giraffe, buffalo, and Kilimanjaro across the plain if the cloud lifts.
Mount Meru trek
Four days to the summit and back, with a ranger the whole way. The best acclimatisation there is if Kilimanjaro is next.
Itineraries
Trips that include Arusha National Park
Family Safari — Northern Tanzania with Children
Arusha National Park, Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti
Cost
On request
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