BOOK YOUR TRIP EARLY
We prefer to use small and intimate accommodations, managed by local touroperators who support the local people and their environments - at the most remote and unique locations avoiding mass tourism.
These exclusive accommodations are extremely popular and are booked up very quickly. Some of them can only accommodate up to 8 people. If you are interested in any safari that we offer we advise you to contact us early so we can make arrangements and be sure to fit in the accommodation of your choice into your itinerary.
Arusha National park is only a 35 minutes drive from Arusha city. The small national park includes the slopes, summit, and ash cone of Mt. Meru, the Momela Lakes, Ngurdoto Crater, and the lush highland forests that blanket its lower slopes. The park’s greatest attractions are its spectacular landscapes and its rich flora. Although the surrounding countryside is rather dry, the park itself is green throughout the year, and offers three different and impressive natural habitats. Waterfalls and lakes, steep cliffs and gorges, swamps and waterholes, all provide great opportunities to encounter wildlife.
Arusha National Park has the highest giraffe population density in Africa. It is home to groups of forest elephant, many buffalo, water and bushbucks, duikers and dik diks. Spotted hyenas, leopards and civet cats are some of the predator inhabitants.
Here visitors, who appreciate the wonderful “Africa en miniature“, are able to enjoy guided walking safaris or canoeing trips on the lakes as well as fascinating game drives.
Explore the "Little Serengeti" plains in the south, walk to stunning gorges and waterfalls in the north, enjoy the tropical mountain rainforests, experience the diverse fauna and flora along the Momella Lakes with its rich flamingo population and discover the secret haven of the hidden Ngurdoto Crater - nick-named "little Ngorongoro" due to its stunning beauty and rich wildlife. All these highlights are towered by the shining glaciers of Kilimanjaro and the horseshoe-like cliffs and the peak of Mt. Meru. Arusha National Park is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful destinations in the country.
Momella Lakes
In the north eastern part of Arusha National Park lies the area known as the Momella Lakes. Fringed by green hills seven lakes nestle in valleys and depressions punctuating the post-volcanic landscape. Their sodium rich contents and the formation of algae make the lakes alkaline, especially Big Momella Lake and Lake Reshateni - and therefore year round favourable feeding and resting areas for flamingos.
Just next to Big Momella nestles the elongated form of Little Momella Lake in a valley of green, dotted with islands and secretive bays, where buffalo, water and bushbuck, hippos and a variety of waterfowl are seen. Lake Kusare, small and swampy during the big rains is a favourite spot for waterbuck. Lake El Kekhotoito surrounded by green hills dries up in the autumn months to become a pan with little streams, attracting plenty of buffalo, giraffe, zebra and smaller forest antelope. The most intense and dramatic way of exploring all this diversity is on a canoeing safari.
Ngurdoto crater
The Ngurdoto Crater is nicknamed the “little Ngorongoro Crater“, alluding to its forgotten beauty. Like the Ngorongoro Crater Ngurdoto is actually a caldera, a collapsed volcano probably measuring 10.000 feet before its last eruption. Its fragile but diverse ecosystem cannot be visited by car or on foot. Only from its crater rim, reached by a steep car track through mountain rainforest, with its various beautifully situated viewpoints may the visitor enjoy this “sunken” Noah’s Ark in its primeval jungle.
Mount Meru
At 4,566 metres high, it ranks as Tanzania’s second highest mountain. During the colder months and with high altitude rains its peak can be covered by snow. Its steep mountain rim serves as the western border of the park. When viewed from the south, Mount Meru shows the typical cone shape of a volcano. However, when seen from the east, it offers a completely different sight! The collapsed eastern mountainside, and the remains of eruptions within the crater, bears witness to the intense volcanic activities which shaped the mountain so many years ago as a part of the eastern Great Rift Valley.
Apart from a few fumaroles emitting hot steam, today’s Mt Meru is a dormant volcano with impressive and unique scenery for both nature lovers and mountain climbers. The mystery of the mountain is in the fairytale setting of giant trees with “legs” and “hair” like witches, whispering streams and waterfalls - the lush green dotted with jewels of hidden flowers and hovering butterflies.
Hatari Lodge
Hatari Lodge is situated in a malaria free altitude above 1500 meters on the northern edge of Arusha National Park, with its unspoilt views of lakes and craters, its magical rain forests, and the 4,566 metre high dormant volcano Mount Meru, rising elegantly in the background. At the very heart of this “luxury bush hotel” are the traditional farm buildings, which were used by the legendary actor Hardy Krüger, and his former manager, Jim Mallory, located at the edge of Arusha National Park, close to the setting of the legendary movie "HATARI!"
The quite unique “Hatari-Lodge” offers 9 extremely comfortably furnished rooms, each with an open fireplace and a spacious bathroom en suite. Each room has been lovingly decorated
in a retro style, evoking the 60’s and 70’s - the time of "Hatari!" and the beginning of safaris in Tanzania.
There is a large central living and dining room where guests will enjoy a delicious cuisine. Here you will find a cosy lounge area and bar with a veranda and viewing deck, as well as a library.
The breakfast terrace, bordered by sweet smelling acacias, as well as the viewing platform onto the Momella swamps offers impressive views of Mt. Meru, Kilimanjaro and the wildlife from close by.
Price indication based on two people including game package € 240,- p.p.p.n.
Price indication based on two people - 2 nights Hatari Lodge & 2 nights Hemmingway Experience € 1.060,- p.p.
Included - Scheduled lodge activities, all meals, teas and coffees, mineral water in the rooms and during the safaris and housewine during meals.
Excluded - park entry fees 35 Usd p.p.p.d.
Activities: Ngurdoto Crater –
Early morning game drive in the National Park to Ngurdoto Crater reaching Buffalo Viewpoint. Excellent view over
and into Ngurdoto Crater and the sunlit volcanic walls of Mt Meru. Watch Colobus and Sykes monkeys waking up on their favourite resting branches and look down onto herds of buffalo, giraffe, and warthog as well the occasional
elephant. Return via “Little Serengeti” to Hatari Lodge for lunch!
Masai Village Visit -
Early Morning Drive to the north of Hatari Lodge where the vast unspoilt Kilimanjaro Masai Savannah unfolds. As part of the activities and experiences offered through the lodge, an exclusive visit to a Masai village allows insight into the culture and customs of this most famous African tribe. Spend time with elders, who share with you the historical background and make you sense the immense dimensions of Masai country. “Introducing you to the Masai culture” - will give you an insight into the traditional role of women, children and the young men in their society. You may watch the preparation of various digging sticks, the gathering of an extraordinary variety and number of medical plants, the preparation of traditional foods, hunting preparation, poison grub collecting, rope plant collecting, fire making etc. as well as the making of beads for their colourful jewellery. Return to the Hatari Lodge for a delicious brunch.
Arusha NP –
Afternoon guided walk across the buffalo meadow to the Tulusia waterfall in the Arusha Park.
Small Momella lake –
Afternoon game drive to the Momella Lakes, viewing flamingos and other wetland bird species. Canoeing on Little Momella Lakes with close encounters of wildlife like hippo, buffalo and waterbuck. Sundowners under the roof of Africa - Kilimanjaro.
Hele dag:
Ngurdoto Crater -
After breakfast your guide will take you on a full days game drive through the National Park to Ngurdoto Crater reaching Buffalo viewpoint before midday. From here you will have an excellent view across Ngurdoto Crater towards sun lit volcanic walls of Mt. Meru. The crater floor, home to herds of buffalo, giraffe, warthog as well as elephant
is a ’mini reserve’ within the Park. From here you will walk along the crater rim to the northern side where a picnic lunch will be served in the bush. After lunch your guide will drive you through the ’Little Serengeti’ looking for zebra, bushbuck and elephant before returning to Hatari Lodge for afternoon tea, coffee and cake.
Mt. Meru Crater -
Early morning wake up with the striking sunlit panorama of Mt Meru outside your window. After a quick cup of coffee and muffins you will leave with your guide and head up through the fragile mountain forest on the slopes of Mt Meru. Drive to the Tululisia viewing point where you will get on foot and walk to the Crater floor at 2,400 metres.
This takes a couple of hours. The damp misty atmosphere created with the combination of mosses, ferns, orchids, fire lilies and lichens remind you of an extraordinary fantasy world from your childhood. Return to the viewing point for a picnic lunch where the view is spectacular. Look out over the canopy of the mountain forest, across Arusha
National Park towards the Momella Lakes and the Mkuru Plains and finally on the horizon the snow-capped peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro. Return to the lodge for an afternoon siesta, tea, coffee and cake.
Hemingway Experience –
Dag 1
Very early in the morning you will drive out with your guide on to the open grassy plains where a lot of the footage for the film ’’Hatari!“ was taken. The game here is widespread with zebra cantering alongside the tracks and giraffe, eland, impala and Grant’s gazelle regularly seen. At the end of the game drive you will arrive at our Kilimanjaro Safari
Camp, set under a glade of umbrella acacia trees looking out across the plains that lead up to Kilimanjaro. Picniclunch will be served out in nature.
Dag 2
An early morning call is available for those that want to see a unique sun rise over Kilimanjaro. Tea is served at our tents before we head out on foot with Maasai warriors as our guides. All manner of flora and fauna, avifauna and insects are all pointed out on our walk and we head to a secluded spot for a bush breakfast. Game may certainly
be spotted on foot, and perhaps even when having your eggs and coffee! In the mid morning we can now take any numbers of options according to how energetic we feel: head out on an extended walk, drive to Olmalog to visit the local Maasai with a visit (U$ 25 per person) to a ceremonial site (with Maasai rock art), game drive or, simply take life slowly in camp or on a nearby viewpoint with a good book. Lunch is taken back in camp and then in the afternoon we head out on a game drive and have sundowners at a different point before heading back to camp. For those that still have the energy an optional night game drive is on offer to try to spot more elusive nocturnal
creatures before turning in.
20 Days Semi Luxury Tanzania -
Departure from Amsterdam/Brussel
Included-
International flights
Domestic flight Kilimanjaro - Pangani Coast
Domestic flight Pangani Zanzibar
Domestic flight Zanzibar - Dar Es Salaam
Accommodation in comfortable/luxury lodges and hotel with en-suite facilities
Game drives
Walking safaris
Canoeing
Mt Meru Walk
Park entry fees
All meals (with exception of 1x lunch/diner in Stone Town)
Bottled water, teas and coffees in Hatari Lodge/Kilimanjaro Tented safari Camp
Housewine during the meals in Hatari Lodge/Kilimanjaro Tented safari Camp
Intercamp transfers
Airporttransfers
Laundry service in the Safari Camps
Email
Masai Village Visit -
Small Momella lake –
Hemingway Experience –