Times in Tanzania: Arusha National Park Trip VII

Mother with her two babies. Great mom

Although we've been to Arusha National Park several times before(Trip I, Trip II, Trip III, Trip IV, Trip V, Trip VI), our trip this past weekend was actually the first non-birding centered trip. While we've always enjoyed all the flora and fauna, we've often wondered how tourists felt about the park as it's small size, proximity to human settlements, and lack of big animals (lions, elephants, rhinos, etc). We are a bit partial to the park since it is so close (one hour drive from our house) and the lack of crowds appeals to us as well. And of course, the bird life is spectacular and keeps us busy for the entire day.

The trip was different as we had agreed to bring a visitor from the UK along for the trip. It was his first time in Tanzania and he didn't have the time for a proper safari. Both Ana and I felt it would be a bit boring for him alone so we offered to take him (of course he was good company as well). It then dawned on us that we actually did have a pretty good feel for the park and the wildlife and we laughed at the idea of our first safari guiding experience.

We arrived at the park around 9AM and were shocked that there were probably five to seven other safari vehicles. We usually arrive at 8AM and we've never seen more than one other vehicle at that time. We checked in and since the weather was clear we decided to climb up to the top of Ngurdoto Crater to enjoy the beautiful vista. On the way up we saw our first ever traffic jam in Arusha National Park as four safari vehicles jockeyed for position to view some Black and White Colobus high in the trees. They were a bit far but we still got a nice view and then we lucked out as an even bigger group were up the road about five minutes.We got out of the car and enjoyed watching them hop from tree to tree and stare at us with watchful eyes.

We continued up to the top of the crater and felt the cold air as we gained altitude. We were happy to see that the view was excellent from the crater and we even saw a big group of buffalo grazing below. There were scattered clouds so we enjoyed a snack at the recently installed tables at the top.

Love the crater view!

After the crater we zipped down to the Momella Lakes. Our guest, Ian, had previously shared that he loved flamingos and since we had been there a few weeks prior and saw thousands of flamingos, we hoped that our luck would repeat itself. And sure enough, there were thousands! There is a bit of a secret lake off the well trodden circuit which allows you to get as close as possible to the flamingos. We set up there and enjoyed the views and sounds before heading to the Momella Lakes picnic area for lunch.

On the way to the last part of the trip we drove through "Little Serengeti" and were treated to a very close view of a mother giraffe with her two young. One was feeding while the larger one was attempting to feed though it appeared it was past weaning age. The sun and clouds over Mt. Meru is always beautiful from that vantage point and we enjoyed seeing other ungulates like giraffes and warthog.

The last part of our trip was a drive up Mt. Meru to see the fig tree arch and waterfall picnic spot. The forest in that area is particularly beautiful and perhaps the bird highlight of the day came when we snuck up on some Silvery-Cheeked Hornbills dust bathing. Hornbills make a spectacular helicopter like sound when they fly and seeing Ian's amazement at their behavior was a lot of fun. It's always nice to share your interests with someone and even better when they get into it!

It was a really interesting experience bringing someone along for the ride and it was quite enjoyable to just enjoy all the flora and fauna without focusing exclusively on bird life. We were also pleased to see that someone could enjoy Arusha National Park even without all the big animals!