Today, the first on the agenda was a visit to Arusha National Park.
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The Arusha National Park
Founded in 1960, Arusha National Park is one of 11 national parks in Tanzania, located between Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro in the northeast on the border with Kenya.
The national park is 137 km2 in size and mainly includes the 4562 m high Mount Meru (an extinct volcano), the area of the Momella Lakes as well as the Ngurdoto crater and the small Serengeti (Google Maps). Entrance to Arusha National Park is subject to a fee. The fee in the Arusha, Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Park for 24 hours stay is 35 USD per person. The streets in the park are unpaved and can only be used by off-road vehicles.
A map of Arusha National Park
The little Serengeti
Over the Ngongongare Gate in the south we drove into the park and passed a small green area (the “little Serengeti”) – on which like the first zebras, antelopes and buffaloes saw. The further path is mostly a shady and dense mountain forest, in which one can see above all many monkeys: from diadem-sea-cats to the black-and-white stub-monkeys to baboons.
Ngurdoto Crater
But then we had a flat tire 🙂 For a good two hours we drove a part of the national park, saw giraffes, warthogs, eagles, dikdiks and ibex. And from the higher viewing point Mikindu Observation Point one had a great view into the Ngurdoto crater.
A Bushwalk through the Arusha National Park
After a small lunch at a picnic area at Momella Gate,we did a two-hour bushwalk with an armed ranger in the prayer room around Tululusia Hill and saw a giraffe very close. We walked up to a beautiful waterfall and watched buffaloes, warthogs and monkeys along the way.
The Momella Lakes & Mount Kilimanjaro
After we arrived at the parking lot again, we drove with our guide another 1.5 hours through the park. At the Momella lakes you could see thousands of flamingos colouring the lake into a pink surface. In the background is the majestic Kilimanjaro, with 5,895 meters Africa’s highest mountain. On the further drive through the Arusha National Park we could see some giraffes, hyenas and monkeys at the side of the road.
Die Momella Wildlife Lodge
Around 6 p.m. we arrived at our night quarters, Momella Wildlife Lodge, and surprisingly found that we are the only guests today 🙂
On our 7-day safari tour we also slept one night in the Momella Wildlife Lodge, as we had previously visited the Arusha National Park here. Our group was the only one who was in the lodge at the time. We were accommodated in a round hut, which was simple but clean. The bath was also ok, even if it changed again and again between hot and lukewarm water. But that is perfectly fine for seclusion. Our chef Dixon then conjured us a great dinner and around 10 p.m. – when the electricity was turned off anyway – we lay in bed.
Alle Reiseberichte aus Tansania
Im Jahr 2014 hatten wir bereits eine mehrtägige Safari durch den Kruger Nationalpark in Südafrika gemacht und waren davon so begeistert, dass für uns fest stand, dass eine Safari auf unserer Weltreise nicht fehlen darf. Die Wahl fiel recht schnell auf Tansania, da man hier prima eine Safari & Erhohlung am Strand verbinden kann.
» Unsere 7 Tage Safari in der Serengeti» Der Arusha Nationalpark & der Ngurdoto Krater
» Der Tarangire Nationalpark – Home of Elephants
» Der Lake Manyara Nationalpark – Home of Tree Climbing Lions
» Der Ngorongoro Krater im Nationalpark Serengeti
» Der Serengeti Nationalpark – ein UNESCO Weltnaturerbe
» Eine Morgenpirschfahrt im Serengeti Nationalpark
» Das Lobo-Gebiet in der nördlichen Serengeti
» Die nördliche Serengeti & Rückfahrt nach Arusha
» Arusha & unser Flug auf die Insel Sansibar
» Sansibar – Entspannen im Neptune Pwani Beach Resort
» Mnemba Island – Tauchen & Schnorcheln auf Sansibar