01
Overview
Almost every northern-circuit safari starts and ends here, usually with one night at each end that nobody plans properly.
Arusha sits at about 1,400 metres under Mount Meru, an hour from Kilimanjaro International Airport. It is where the operators are, where the vehicles are prepared, and where you will sleep the night before you drive west.
Arusha National Park, half an hour away, is genuinely good and almost always skipped. It has Meru itself, the Momella lakes, colobus monkey and — unusually — walking safaris and canoeing, both of which are impossible in the big parks.
What you see
- Mount Meru
- Arusha National Park
- Coffee farms
- The market
What you actually see
Black-and-white colobus
Common in the forest at Arusha National Park and hard to see anywhere else on the northern circuit.
Mount Meru, up close
A near-perfect volcanic cone with a horseshoe crater blown out on one side.
Flamingo on the Momella lakes
Alkaline lakes at the foot of the mountain, each a slightly different colour.
Giraffe, on foot
Walking among giraffe and buffalo with a ranger is a different scale of experience from watching them from a vehicle roof.
02
What to do with the day you did not plan
Walk, canoe, and see colobus
Guided walking is permitted with an armed ranger, and canoeing on the Momella lakes gets you level with hippo and waterbirds. A half day here beats a half day in a hotel garden.
Arusha National Park
4,562 metres, and a serious walk in its own right
Three or four days, far quieter than Kilimanjaro, and often used as acclimatisation before it. The crater rim walk is genuinely exposed.
Mount Meru
Markets, coffee and the cultural heritage centre
A working East African city rather than a resort. The coffee grown on Meru’s slopes is worth an hour of anyone’s time.
The town
03
Where to stay
Hotel in Arusha or Moshi
Chosen for your month and your budget.
Hotel in Arusha with a pool
Chosen for your month and your budget.
Hotel in Moshi or Arusha
Chosen for your month and your budget.
The kind of place and the area are fixed by the route. The property itself is chosen for your dates and budget, and named in your quote.
04
Getting there
Getting there
About an hour by road from Kilimanjaro International Airport.
Combine with
Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park, Tarangire National Park
05
Trips that start in Arusha
4-Day Classic Northern Circuit
6-Day Big Five Safari
7-Day Great Migration Safari
06
Best time to go
Best months · Year-round
The dry season
Short grass and animals close to water. The busiest months, and the clearest game viewing.
Calving on the southern plains
The herds are on the short-grass plains around Ndutu, with predators to match.
The green season
Rain, long grass and far fewer vehicles — and some camps close for the long rains.
07
Practical
08
More places to go
Mount Kilimanjaro
A walk, not a climb — but the days decide whether you summit.
Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcano with a resident population, including black rhino.
Serengeti National Park
The migration, and four different regions depending on the month.
