Northern Tanzania - Tanzania - page 337

In an effort to cope with vastly increased tourist attention in recent years, spe-
cially designated cultural villages have been established where you can see
Maasai dancing, photograph as much as you want and buy crafts, albeit for a
steep $50 fee per vehicle; generally, of course, this is a rather disappointing and
contrived experience. For more authentic encounters with the Maasai, take a
short guided walk from your lodge or camp, go trekking in Maasai areas such as
West Kilimanjaro ( Click here ) and Lake Natron ( Click here ) or visit a village
through the Cultural Tourism Program ( Click here ) .
Arusha National Park
Arusha National Park is one Tanzania's smallest (322 sq km) but most beautiful and to-
pographically varied northern circuit parks. It's dominated by Mt Meru (see Trekking Mt
Meru, Click here ) , an almost perfect cone with a spectacular crater. Also notable is Ngur-
doto Crater (often dubbed Little Ngorongoro) with its swamp-filled floor.
The park's altitude, which varies from 1400m to more than 4500m, has a variety of ve-
getation zones but most of the park is forested which makes wildlife drives different from
any other in the north. Animal life is nowhere near as abundant as the others and the dense
vegetation reduces visibility; nevertheless you can be fairly certain of sighting zebras, gir-
affes, waterbucks, bushbucks, klipspringers, dik-diks, buffaloes and hippos. There are also
elephant, leopard, red duiker and the amazing black-and-white colobus (most often sighted
near the Ngurdoto Museum). There are no lions or rhinos due to poaching.
Just north of Ngongongare gate is Serengeti Ndogo (Little Serengeti), a small patch of
open grassland that almost always has zebras and other animals. Here the road divides:
Outer Rd, to the west, has great Meru views, but the eastern Park Rd is the better route
for wildlife. Both are good all-year roads passable in 2WD cars, as are most other tracks
through the park. Park Rd leads past the road up Ngurdoto Crater and then to Momella
Lakes , both beautiful attractions as well as good wildlife-spotting areas. Like many in
the Rift Valley, the seven spring-fed Momella Lakes are shallow and alkaline and attract a
wide variety of wader birds, including year-round flamingos. Due to their varying mineral
content, each lake supports a different type of algal growth, which gives them different col-
ours. Bird life also varies quite distinctly from one lake to another, even when they're only
separated by a narrow strip of land.
Walking safaris (US$20 per person per half-day) are popular. Several trails pass below
Mt Meru and another follows Ngurdoto Crater rim trail (it's not permitted to descend
into the crater). The walk to Njeku Viewpoint in the Meru Crater floor, which follows
Stage 1 ( Click here ) of the climb up Mt Meru, is an excellent day hike. Wayo Africa (
0784-203000; www.wayoafrica.com ) offers half-day Momella Lake canoe safaris (US$55
per person plus a US$20 canoeing fee paid at the park gate) in the morning and afternoon.