Ngurdoto Crater
A small forested caldera, sometimes called the Little Ngorongoro. You view it from the rim rather than descending; buffalo and warthog on the floor, forest all the way round.
An Arusha National Park day trip is the most underrated thing on the northern circuit, and it is forty-five minutes from our office. Five hundred and fifty-two square kilometres on the slopes of Mount Meru, holding three entirely separate landscapes — the Ngurdoto crater, the Momella lakes, and the montane forest climbing toward the peak.
There are no lion here, and no elephant to speak of, which is exactly why it works. Without dangerous game in numbers, Arusha permits things the bigger parks cannot: walking safaris with a ranger, canoeing on the Momella lakes, and a canopy of colobus monkey overhead that you will not see anywhere else on the circuit.
Most people use it as a first day — an acclimatisation day before the long drive west, or a way to fill the gap between landing at Kilimanjaro and starting a serious safari. It works well as either. It also works as a standalone day trip if you are in Arusha on business and have one morning free.
Best time to visitYear-round; June to February for the clearest views
A small forested caldera, sometimes called the Little Ngorongoro. You view it from the rim rather than descending; buffalo and warthog on the floor, forest all the way round.
A chain of shallow alkaline lakes, each a slightly different colour depending on its mineral content, with flamingo and a great deal of waterfowl. The only place on the circuit you can canoe.
Tanzania's second mountain at 4,566 metres, and a serious climb in its own right. Even from the park floor the ash cone and the horseshoe crater dominate everything.
Montane forest on the lower slopes with black-and-white colobus overhead. They are noisy, conspicuous, and absent from every other park on this circuit.
With an armed ranger, and the real reason to come. No lion means you can cover ground on foot in a way the other parks never allow.
A couple of hours on the lakes among waterfowl, with giraffe and buffalo on the shore and Meru above you.
A half day takes in the crater rim, the lakes and the forest, which is most of the park.
Three to four days to the summit, and the best possible acclimatisation before Kilimanjaro.
Arusha · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
Arusha · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
Arusha · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire · Zanzibar
Arusha · Kilimanjaro · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire · Zanzibar