Arusha National Park: Trip VIII

Black and white colobus monkeys in a tree

We've taken several trips to nearby Arusha National Park (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III, Trip IV, Trip V, Trip VI, Trip VII) but we have never gone during this time of the year (dry season). It's even more interesting this year because the short rains that usually come at the end of the calendar year never arrived so the area around us is quite dry. We were curious to see what the park had to offer.

Immediately when we arrived we realized the park was very dry. The bird life that was usually abundant at the gate was absent and we didn't see the usual concentration of wildlife. We first made our way up Mt. Meru but halfway up we realized the forest was extremely quiet and decided to go back down and head to the lakes. At the lakes we saw the wildlife was concentrated there with buffalo relaxing under the trees and giraffes grazing by the waterside. We'd never seen so much wildlife at the lakes and it was quite nice to see them so close.

We finished the day up at Ngurudoto which was a treat due to a large amount of swifts and martens flying around. It's so cool to see them from an elevated position because they appear to be at eye level and they whiz by your head so close you can hear the wind created from their flight. We also got to see two Lanner Falcons displaying and hunting, one of which flew right by us!

Overall the trip was nice albeit a little slow. The aesthetics of the park couldn't compare to when it is lush and green but the flipside of that is the wildlife was more concentrated and visible. It is always cool to see places here in different seasons.

Ana enjoying the forest

Checking out some birds on the lake

One of my favorites, a Grey-crowned Crane

Waterbuck

A Black-headed Heron with a mouthful

Picnic spot with a view of Mt. Meru