Average User Rating
Rating Breakdown
Write a User Review
Colin S. Johnson Photography
US
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A small safari to get you started on your Tanzania adventure
Arusha National Park is far smaller than the other parks and doesn't have the larger wildlife the other parks have like elphants, hippos, rhinos, etc. What it does have is a thriving flamingo population, baboons, and black and white colobus monkeys. It is a great park to start your journey through Tanzania because it gives you a way to sort of dip your toes into the safari travel without being immersed in it. The roads are dirt, the wildlife is right outside of your car, the views are beautiful but it is a small park and the animals are smaller and less intimidating than other parks.
We stopped for lunch at a picnic grounds and could see baboons around the restroom area maybe 30 feet from us waiting for us to leave so they could scavenge
Read more
any food we left behind. Impressive animals but at no time did I feel threatened. The lakes were filled with greater and lesser flamingos in the thousands. The Black and White Colobus monkeys played in the trees above our heads in the jungle sections of the park. And the bird species were innumerable.You will get a feel of a safari vehicle riding on dirt roads, get a bit of jungle, plains, lakes, etc that you will encounter at the larger parks without feeling over-whelmed. But Arusha is simply not as thrilling as the big three. The Serengeti is unmatched, Ngorongoro is unique, and Tarangire provides amazing landscapes as backdrops to the many elephants in the park. The other three are better for seeing the big 5 and most of the animals you came to Tanzania to see, but Arusha is a good way to start your journey...just don't finish it there or you will be disappointed. But when you start there...you get a brief look at the bigger things to come.
For a day trip, Arusha National Park is pretty special.
I only had one day to spend on seeing wildlife after a week of work in Arusha. Arusha National Park proved to be a very accessible location. It is easy to get to and has an abundance of wildlife if you're prepared to spend some time to look around. It may not have all the animals, but if you go with the proper expectations you will not be disappointed.
Quite different from other parks. Sligthly less frequent to see the big animals which can be more frequently seen in the other parks of northerm tanzania, but great vegetation, lush and green. Nice experience that of canoeing on one odf the many lakes in the park. Not many options for accomodation. Easily reachable from Arusha. I'd consider to include a short (e.g. 2 days) visit to this park when staying for a safari of at least 10 days.
Julie and Stuart B
GB
Visited:
October 2025
Reviewed: Oct 28, 2025
Email Julie and Stuart B | 65+ years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely tropical vegetation. Beautiful landscape.
We did a walking safari and we were very fortunate that our guide took us very very close to a family of giraffes.
The lake and surrounding area is picturesque.
It was a lovely way to start our safari travels.
Matthias Ritter
DE
Visited:
June 2025
Reviewed: Jun 24, 2025
Email Matthias Ritter | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Edeus
TZ
Visited:
July 2019
Reviewed: Oct 21, 2019
Email Edeus | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
We could see some wild animals unfortunately we couldnt spot any of the big five
An excellent start
A good start to our tour of Tanzania with nice accommodation, excellent birding and some lovely scenery
Terry Allen, allenfotowild
CA
Visited:
March 2017
Reviewed: Mar 18, 2017
Small park, easy to get to with some wonderful mountain scenery. Limited selection of wildlife.
Relaxing day unwinding after climbing Kilimanjaro
We visited Arusha NP the day after climbing Kili. The journey over from Moshi, where we were based, showed us more of the region, and Arusha NP offered an un-hurried day out. Our guides took us to their favourite spots; we saw many giraffe and zebra, baboons and colobus monkeys. Best treat was seeing Flamingos in a ring 1-3 deep all around big Momela lake. The park is very scenic, especially Ngurdoto Crater, and it would be good to return to see more of it, perhaps by climbing Mt Meru. Arusha NP offers quite a contrast to the almost complete absence of wildlife on Kili!
Isabell
DE
Visited:
February 2016
Reviewed: Jun 28, 2016
Email Isabell | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We didn't see that much animals at Arusha National Park (though it's always a matter of luck). But we still enjoyed the different landscape and beauty of this national park. We also booked a walking safari to the waterfall which was really a great experience. It's definitely something totally different (and worth doing) as you feel more like beeing a part of the nature than you would do sitting in a car. Moreover here you can find animals you won't see at the Serengeti such as colobus monkeys.