Things to do
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Arusha National Park
Arusha National Park covers forest and the Momella Lakes on the lower slopes of Mount Meru, 45 minutes by road from the city. Buffalo, giraffe, waterbuck and hippo are often seen around the lakes, and colobus monkeys live in the forest. The visit takes a full day, and the gates close at 18:00.
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Lake Manyara National Park
Groundwater forest, then open floodplain, then a shallow alkaline lake under the wall of the Rift escarpment: the park changes habitat within a short drive. Flamingos gather on the water in numbers that rise and fall with its depth, and the tree-climbing lions are rarely seen. A half day covers the circuit from the gate and back.
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Mount Meru
Mount Meru, 4,562 m, rises inside Arusha National Park and is climbed from Momella Gate with porters and an armed ranger escort. The park's own route takes two nights and three days, sleeping at Miriakamba and Saddle huts; many operators plan three or four days instead. On a clear day the summit looks across to Kilimanjaro, and climbers often use Meru to acclimatise before it.
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Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcano, about 20 km across and 600 m deep, holds a caldera floor of grass, soda lake and forest where lion, elephant, hippo and black rhino live year round. Descent is by permitted vehicle on a one-way track, with a time limit on the floor. The crater is about three hours from Arusha on tarred road.
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Serengeti National Park
Grass plains run unbroken to the Kenyan border, and the wildebeest and zebra herds circle them through the year, following the rain. Camps can be chosen within reach of the herds in most months. The park is about 325 km and eight hours from Arusha by road, so many itineraries fly in instead.
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Tarangire National Park
Baobabs stand over a river valley that draws elephant herds through the dry months, when the Tarangire River is the only reliable water for a long way around. Pythons in the branches and a long bird list come with it. Two hours by road from Arusha, the last 7 km unpaved, it works as a first or last day.
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Arusha Clock Tower
The Clock Tower stands on the roundabout at the centre of Arusha's business district, with the city's markets and museums within walking distance. Touts around the roundabout sell counterfeit park fee receipts. Pay park fees only at the park gate, by card or mobile money, and never to anyone in town.
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Arusha Declaration Museum
This museum in central Arusha covers the Arusha Declaration, signed in the city in 1967, and the political history of Tanzania that followed. It opens daily except on public holidays. The displays are short on detail, and about an hour covers them.
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Cultural Heritage Centre
The Cultural Heritage Centre, on the Dodoma road outside central Arusha, is a complex of galleries and shops with an African art gallery, a Makonde museum, a spice centre and a cafe. It opens every day, public holidays included. Photography is restricted in parts of the complex, so ask before taking pictures inside.
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Lake Duluti
Lake Duluti is a crater lake on the edge of Arusha, ringed by forest. A visit pairs a canoe trip on the lake with a shaded forest walk, and water birds gather on the open water. The paddle and the walk together take a half day from a hotel in town.
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Natural History Museum
The National Natural History Museum fills the old German boma, a walled compound on Boma Road in central Arusha. Three of its exhibits cover early man, and mounted animals of the region fill other rooms. Allow about an hour for an unhurried look at the collection.
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Ngurdoto Crater
Ngurdoto Crater lies inside Arusha National Park and is seen from six viewpoints along its rim. The crater floor is soft ground, so vehicles stay off it and the view is from above. A stop at one of the viewpoints fits into a game drive on the park road.
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Olduvai Gorge
Hominin fossils and stone tools were found in this gorge on the edge of the Ngorongoro highlands. A small museum on the rim explains the layers and holds casts of the finds. The stop takes about two hours on the road between Ngorongoro and the Serengeti.
