Arusha Nat'l Park

Old Aug 15th, 2009, 11:20 AM
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Arusha Nat'l Park

My husband and I will be spending one night in Arusha October 24, before heading off to Tarangire for two nights.

Should we schedule a stop in Arusha to visit the Nt'l Park before heading out? We're on a private safari with Warrior Trails .

We will also fly back to Arusha from the Northern Serengeti our last day and have a day room at Kia Lodge before flying out of JRO for home.

Would it be a better time to visit on our return to Arusha? Or should we visit it at all??
I don't see much mention about this park on the forum. .
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Old Aug 15th, 2009, 11:49 AM
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Three years ago (!) we visited a day prior to heading off for the "big" safari. I liked it a lot; we canoed and took a walk while there. We used Green Footprints. Here' a pic of my friend's mom in the canoe:

http://www.pbase.com/leelygoes/image/78976418/medium

I would visit whichever day you have the most time, although it won't seem teeming with game like other areas.
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Old Aug 15th, 2009, 01:24 PM
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You can do either a full- or half-day visit to Arusha NP.
So depending on from where you're flying, if concerned about jetlag, consider doing a visit here on arrival. Some feel a visit here is a nice "intro" to safari and you will see some game not found (or difficult to find) elsewhere, i.e., Colobus monkey.

At the end, you don't arrive back in Arusha from N.Serengeti till about 12N. ARK airstrip is at farthest end (south) of Arusha and to get to Arusha NP during mid-day traffic will take forever and then have a rushed visit.

Alternatives the first day could be a village visit at N'gresi or Tengeru (sp). These two are for about 3-4/hrs and less expensive than a visit to Arusha NP. Inquire on all prices and then decide.
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Old Aug 15th, 2009, 07:09 PM
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SandraJoy,

Arusha NP is a delightful introduction to a longer safari. I did a full day tour with our Good Earth guide and was fortunate to see Sykes (blue) and colobus monkeys, flamingoes, Mt Kilimanjaro peeking above the cloud for a short time and many, many giraffe. I now think of Arusha NP as giraffe central! Some photos here - http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...ly-2008.cfm?26

If you have the time, I would recommend a visit to this park.

Cheers,


Pol.
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Old Aug 16th, 2009, 06:13 PM
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It depends on whether or not you have an afternoon game drive in Tarangire scheduled the day you drive to the park. Are you arriving on the evening KLM flight? If so, you really won't have time to go to Arusha NP before heading off to Tarangire the next day, unless you do a half-day visit the next morning, then proceed directly to your Tarangire camp with no game drive in Tarangire. You won't have time to do both parks in one day. I enjoy Arusha NP. It's about the only place on the Northern Circuit where you'll have a chance to see black and white colobus monkeys. We've usually done a day trip there with a picnic lunch, but we spend two nights in Arusha in order to do that.
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Old Aug 17th, 2009, 05:53 PM
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Have to agree with Shay. You don't really have the time to do it with a KLM arrival, unless you are coming through Nairobi and get to Arusha before lunch.
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Old Aug 18th, 2009, 07:10 AM
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On my last trip, last month, I scheduled 2 nights in Arusha on arrival and spent one full day in the park. It is a delightful little park and takes a full day just to see the highlights IMHO. It's a perfect introduction to safari while getting over jetlag and maybe waiting for lost luggage!! Both first-timers and long-time safari goers enjoy this park. And it’s so lush and green, compared to the rest of East Africa right now. The geology of this park took me by surprise also. It’s definitely worth scheduling in, but for a day.
Like others have said, here you will see some animals not seen elsewhere like lots of colubus monkeys sitting in trees with their long bushy white tails hanging down like cotton simulating snow in our Christmas Trees; and sykes monkeys too, the red duiker and flamingos by the thousands. I've never seen so many flamingos before anywhere and so close. They were right there; yes the smell wasn’t great but …. Of course, with them it's seasonal/hit and miss.
Also, I was surprised by all the giraffes. There was a field full of sitting and sleeping giraffes. Amazing. The game isn’t skittish, like in other park, because there are no cats here.

It’s not a place that you should try to schedule in between flights on the return. Plan to go and spend the day. You can leave early, spend most of the day, say 6 hours with lunch, then leave for Tarangire and be there before dark, depending on where you’re staying - in the park or outside. I highly recommend it.
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Old Aug 18th, 2009, 11:58 AM
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Safarimama describes the park well! Giraffe was the dominant species that we've always seen there. We've also done a walk with an armed ranger back to a beautiful waterfall, which is delightful. A good point about waiting for "lost luggage", too... that's happened on 3 of the 4 northern circuit safaris that I've done in Tanzania.
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Old Aug 18th, 2009, 01:40 PM
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Thanks all of you....since we have two nights in Tarangire..and we do arrive in Arusha on the KLM flight on our first night, maybe we'll spend part of our first day in Arusha Nat'l and only do a game drive in Tarangire on our second day and then, one more if we have time for it before we leave for our drive toward Sopa Lodge at the Crater

I know we can't do it all but Arusha Nat'l Park sounds worthwhile and now our schedule makes no mention of it....but as we leave Tarangire for the Ngor..the plan is to have lunch at Gibbs and visit a Masaii village before arriving at the crater where we spend 2 nightss.

It's our first safari, but we have traveled in South Africa (Capetown) Namibia and West Africa (Dakar, Cape Verde)and have visited a few cultural sites. I am conscious of the traffic and congestion in African cities...so I appreciate all your input. Choices...choices...choices

Somethings gotta give...so any help in making this decision will be appreciated.
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Old Aug 18th, 2009, 07:47 PM
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You should be able to do an all-day drive in Tarangire. We've done that, packing in both breakfast and lunch. There's a really nice picnic area overlooking the river and also another one deeper in the park overlooking the swamp area. Both are pleasant, scenic, and have rest facilities. If you're scheduled for a village visit and lunch at Gibb's Farm, you won't have time for another drive in Tarangire that morning.

The only city you'll be in is Arusha and it's not that large or congested. Once you're out on the northern circuit, you'll only see small villages and the town of Karatu (not very large.)
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