Arusha

Arusha National Park is a relatively small park, covering an area of just over fifty square miles and lies near the town of Arusha. The town and the park derive their name from the Warusha people who traditionally lived in this area. However, the park also overlaps into areas where the Maasai lived and most of the place names in the park are of Maasai origin.

Lying between the peaks of Kilimanjaro and Meru, Arusha National Park is an area of outstanding beauty and a wide range of habitats; from the string of crater lakes where many water birds can be watched, through the highland forest and on up to the imposing summit of Mount Meru.

Three distinct areas are to be found within Arusha National Park:

• Ngurdoto Crater - surrounded by forest whilst the crater floor is a swampy area.

• The Momela Lakes - alkaline, like many in the Rift Valley.

• Mount Meru - a mixture of lush forests and bare rocks.

Migrating water birds settle on the lakes, waterbuck and reedbuck are found near water, while shy bushbuck and duikers keep to the forested areas. Within this wide range of habitats almost 400 species of birds have been recorded in the Park. Some of these are migratory and present between October and April, others are permanently resident in the forests.

The forests contain an abundance of birds and other animals, like the beautiful bushbuck easily glimpsed in the glades between the ancient cedar trees, or the black and white colobus monkeys climbing along their branches.

Throughout the park there are opportunities to observe the natural world at its own pace, to see different animals in their various habitats and absorb something of the serenity of the surroundings.