Tanzania 2001 - Arusha National Park

A woodcarver creates souvenirs at the Cultural Heritage workshop

We stayed in a round hut among lush green landscaping.

In the trees we saw black and white colubus monkeys. A bit shy, they would peek at us from behind the foliage. Often we could not see them, but could hear them calling to each other.

We climbed to a viewpoint where we could see cape buffalo grazing in the crater below.

We saw many beautiful birds wherever we traveled.

The animals we saw on our first game drive included giraffe, buffalo, warthogs, bushbucks, waterbucks, red duiker, hippopotamus, zebra, black and white colubus monkeys, blue monkeys, black crested eagle, flamingos (both greater and lesser), royal crested cranes, egyptian geese, oxpickers, spoonbills, red billed duck, dwarf mongoose, striped frog, baboons, hornbills, francolin, sacred ibis, and butterflies. 

The park borders farms. When the animals wander out of the park, the farmers chase them away. So they tend to be a bit shy. Often we would get a glimpse of an antelope getting a glimpse of us a second before disappearing into the forest.

Of course, we fell in love with the giraffes. They gazed at us calmly with huge, long-lashed eyes. Their height enables them to nibble on trees that no one else can reach. They love acacia trees, which have incredible thorns; their prehensile tongues and flexible lips let them delicately reach between the thorns for the tasty leaves.

In Arusha, we saw many giraffes on or near the road. We were able to get very close, sometimes within 15 feet of them.

We saw hundreds of beautiful butterflies all through Arusha.

Beautiful scenery was around every bend in the road.

Arusha is a relatively small park; unlike other places we visited, it was possible to see nearly all of it. When we reached this sign, it was time to turn around and go home.

We slept under mosquito nets.

Travel Diary

May 30 (Wednesday) Arusha National Park

Steve: We woke at 6:00 AM from a fitful night’s sleep, showered and went to the dining room for breakfast. As we were seated, the staff knew our names and welcomed us as "Steve and Rose". Apparently, this is how our travel documents read, so it was a continuing theme through the trip for Rosemary to be called "Rose". (Editor’s note: kids, don’t try this at home.)

Rosemary: Sometimes I am respectfully called "mother", which is a typical way to address a married woman, who would also be known by her oldest son's name ("Mother Max").

Steve: Breakfast was buffet, as it was at all the lodges we stayed at, with some juice, fresh fruit, omelette bar, breads & breakfast meats. We met Hassan at 8:00 AM and drove to Arusha National Park. On the way, we drove through the local weekly marketplace and saw produce being brought in from around the area, much of it balanced on the heads of the local women.

The day started cool and overcast and warmed later on, but we never got the full African heat we were afraid of.

Wildlife in Arusha National Park is protected from hunters, as was the wildlife in the other national parks we visited. Sometimes, however, the animals leave the park and raid the local farms. There are also game reserves where hunting is allowed. Hassan told us he used to lead game drives for hunters but quit because he didn’t like seeing the animals killed. He must have been good at his job, though, because he has unbelievable eyesight, being able to spot animals a quite a distance as he drives.

Rosemary: The lodge staff told us that if we need a wakeup call to let them know and they'll knock on our door. There are phones in the rooms, but apparently they don't actually work. (We brought an alarm clock.) Got up at dawn to the sound of birds I'd never heard before -- and roosters!

It was market day. People sell fruits and vegatables, displayed on the ground. They carry large burdens on their heads. A mixture of traditional and modern dress, some in full traditional clothes, others fully western, but most combining elements, with women wearing colorful fabric as a long wraparound skirt, often with a western-styled blouse or sweater on top.

There is a real flush toilet at the gate to Arusha National Park. But the elephants broke the water pipe, so it was off to the pit latrine instead.

Steve: This was an excellent day for viewing wildlife. The forest was lush and the land was covered in greenery. We drove around Large & Small Lake Momella, up Leopard Hill and through much of the park. We could see much of Mt. Meru [pictured, right] but Kilimanjaro was covered in clouds, so we never got a good look at it.

While hiking up to a vista point, we got attacked by safari ants, which are very quick and love to hide in your socks and pants legs. No one got bitten, but they were annoying and it took a while to get them off our legs.

Because there is no hunting, the animals are not as afraid of humans or vehicles, so we were able to get up pretty close to some of the animals. On our first day we saw:

baboons (many with babies) black & white colobus monkeys black crested eagle blue monkeys bush buck cape buffalo egret Egyptian geese flamingos (two kinds) francolin (bird) giraffes

hippos hornbills red billed duck red duiker (a type of deer) royal crowned cranes sacred ibis spoonbills striped frog warthogs water buck zebra assorted birds

Rosemary: Lush vegetation, the forest very dense. Thick moss on the trees, sometimes so thick more plants take root in it. Always bird calls and insect sounds, monkeys calling, buffalo grunting.

The hippos were out of the water, unusual for them during the day, but today there was cloud cover so they grazed at the edge of the lake. They all set down in a close group.

Lots of giraffes, sometimes very close to the road. They have big eyes and long lashes. Sometimes they will stop to look at us.

All the animals are shy. Baboons quickly vanish into the bushes. We saw where elephants had recently trampled the grass and eaten, but no glimpse of the elephants themselves.

The narrow road is mostly just a muddy wheel track. A "traffic" jam was caused when three vehicles stopped at the same viewpoint. But for the most part we saw very few other vehicles, and we had plenty of time and peace to see what we wanted. Exhausted by the end of the day, we were falling asleep sitting up in the car on the way back to the lodge.

Steve: After a long and tiring day, we went back to the lodge for a short nap before dinner.