National Parks Africa » Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park (ANP) is close to major human cultivation and settlements. It is small only 137 square kilometres (53 square miles) yet has varied terrain with a distinct feeling of wildness. There are fresh to alkaline lakes separated by hummocks in the Momela area; a small crater, Ngurdoto, with steep inner walls: and the extinct volcano, Mount Meru, with a breached crater and many valleys on its flanks leading down to farm land on the lower slopes.

Altitude ranges from 1,500 metres (4,920 feet) at Momela to 4,566 metres (14,990 feet) at the top of Mount Meru. Most rain falls between November and May, although there is often a less rainy period from December to February when skies clear to offer magnificent views of Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro. In the dry season views tend to be a little more hazy.

Ngurdoto, Momela and Mount Meru are easily accessible. Since there are no lions in the park, a number of observation points have been prepared where you can get out of your vehicle. This feeling of freedom, with time to look about on foot, greatly contributes to the enchantment of a visit here.

There are two main entrances: Ngurdoto Gate lies at the base of Ngurdoto Crater: Momela Gate is situated where the main Ngare-Nanyuki track crosses a high ridge connecting Mount Meru with the rest of the park. Ngurdoto Crater is always a good entry point to the park. There is a small museum at the gate surrounded by forest trees. Here you can get out of your vehicle and scan the treetops with your binoculars. Look into the ascending branches of the open crowned African olive, one of the most valuable timber trees in Africa. The deep, staccato roars you might hear are made by the local troop of black and white colobus monkeys.

The population in ANP is particularly striking, being a breed which lives only in highland areas such as here and on Mount Kilimanjaro. The hair of their cape and tail is exceptionally long and white and streams behind them as they leap amongst the trees. There are troops of colobus throughout the park’s forests. You may also meet the blue monkey, mostly grey and black with a long slender tail.

The huge silvery-cheeked hornbill is usually seen in pairs, has an ivory coloured calque above its beak and a call sounding like maniacal laughter.

The crater: Surrounding Ngurdoto Crater are very beautiful forests containing huge strangler figtrees with long roots descending from on high. Wild mangos, medium sized trees with shiny, dark green leaves and clusters of white waxy flowers and inedible fruit, are also common.

The crater itself is about 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) across. The inside has been designated a private sanctuary for wildlife, and no humans are allowed onto the crater floor.

From any viewpoint on the rim of Ngurdoto you look out over a wide bowl; the bottom is usually marshy and grades into grassy swards around the edges before disappearing into lush forest on the inner slopes. Palm trees lean out of places where water seeps on the walls and stand out among the lacy-leafed Albizia, dark Bersama, gnarled Nuxia and tall Olea trees on the rim.

At Leitong, the highest point at 1,853 metres (6,077 feet) on the north side of the crater, you can see unusual lobelia plants as well as a splendid view across the crater. In the sky eagles, ravens, buzzards and hawks ride the up-draughts. If it is clear you can see to Kilimanjaro.

Returning through lower forest on the outside slopes of Ngurdoto look for the shy red duiker. This rust-red antelope is larger than a dikdik but might be confused with a female bushbuck, which is also reddish with white spots on its throat and sides.

In the lower forest, trees grow in decorative groves and clumps, with a very short green sward spreading below to catch the dappled light. The most common trees are crotons, recognizable by the silvery undersides of their pale green leaves. Croton macrostachyus has heart-shaped leaves that turn orange when old. It is very widespread in open areas all over the park; Croton megalocarpus is taller, with narrower leaves and is even more abundant.

The road between Ngurdoto Crater and the Momela lakes passes by several side-roads leading to viewpoints. They all offer different perspectives of the ponds, marshes, valleys and lakes. Hides and observation points near the Momela lakes look out on the surrounding terrain which was formed when Mount Meru blew its top and muddy, rocky avalanches spread debris all the way to the foot of neighbouring Kilimanjaro. From a high point, such as Boma la Megi, you can see the widespread array of hills and lakes in and beyond the park.

The Momela lakes: In this area lakes range from fresh to alkaline water, most of it coming from underground streams. They sometimes appear to be different colours, as a result of algal growths. Each lake attracts a distinctive clientele: the pinker, lesser flamingo chooses lakes rich in blue-green algae, its only food. The paler, greater flamingo mainly eats crustacea which feed on algae and, because it is less numerous and taller, can exploit different and deeper lakes. Pelicans visit from time to time. Large varieties of ducks, geese and waders, both residents and migrants, can also be seen.

Leaving the lakes there is a broad undulating area of grass and bush. In patches of trees and thick bush embellishing the hills, look carefully for herds of elephants or buffalo, solitary bush-buck or eland and the tiny dikdik—if you see one you know its mate is somewhere near. The most commonly seen animals throughout this area between Momela lakes and Mount Meru are giraffes, which are very tame.

To explore Mount Meru, one must cross the Ngare Nanyuki River and ascend the steep mountain track in a four-wheel drive vehicle. This extinct volcano is covered with treasures: the lower slopes have marshy, flower-filled glades, hidden waterfalls, clear streams, butterfly- and bushbuck flecked clearings and a blossoming, bushy forest with leaping colobus monkeys.

Beyond the drive-through fig tree arch, the upper forest has enormous junipers and podos with olive pigeons, red-fronted parrots or Hartlaub’s turacos in the uppermost branches. Above the Kitoto viewpoint this forest gives way to giant heather. In the flat floor of Meru’s crater is a heath dotted with lilies, red hot pokers and other flowers. There is also a dead forest covered in pale green lichen. Many high altitude plants grow in this vast amphitheatre with slopes of bare scree, steep cliffs of crumbling rock and a jagged summit.

There are mountain huts and guides for those who want to make the steep climb up the ridge of Meru’s cone to the peak at 4,566 metres (14,990 feet). The walk up the mountain from its base is not only relatively easy but thoroughly rewarding.

Conservation and conflict: Arusha National Park, established in 1960, is named after the large town spread over its south-west flank, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) away. The town in turn is named after the Warusha people who live mostly on the west and driest side of the mountain. They are said to be Maasai people who settled around Mount Meru in order to grow crops instead of leading a totally pastoral way of life, dependent on livestock. Another large group of people, called the Meru who are relatives to the Wachagga, live on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Wildlife enthusiasts use Arusha as the gateway to game parks in the region, including Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, Tarangire and Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

From many places in the park one can see evidence of the squeeze along the boundaries by people and farms. Inaddition to cultivated plots, a broad band of mostly pine forest stretches over many kilometres of the southern and western flanks. The trees were planted many years ago to provide timber for the area. Along the borders the native vegetation abruptly changes where humans have modified the area for their own uses.

In the pristine forest on Mount Meru people secretly cut down trees to provide wood for homes and tourist lodges and even to make carvings for tourists to buy. Trophy poachers prowl the slopes in search of the last rhinos and elephants. In Ngurdoto Crater, meat poachers have cleared out most of the larger wildlife, and around the Momela lakes people illegally fish, reducing food for birds and scaring away wildlife. Although they suffer from a lack of funds, staff and equipment, the park authorities continue to fight the endless battle to protect wildlife.

Arusha demonstrates the considerable dangers of a relatively self-contained ecological unit being pressed on all sides by the demands and self-interests of humanity.