What to do in Arusha, and what to expect of the city
Downtown Arusha is dusty and busy, the traffic does what it wants, and the pavements are full. That is the honest first impression, and it is also why the city is worth a couple of days rather than a night.
Arusha sits at the foot of Mount Meru, at around fourteen hundred metres, and it is the town the northern safari circuit runs out of. You need one or two nights here, three if you want to get out to Lake Duluti or into the national park. The two things we would not skip are the coffee on the slopes and a morning in Arusha National Park, which is the only park in Tanzania where you can walk.
Below are fourteen things to do, and under each one a line on whether we plan it for guests or whether it is simply there.
Climbing Mount Meru
Four thousand five hundred and sixty-six metres, three or four days, an armed ranger with you the whole way because the route starts inside the national park and you walk out through buffalo country. It is a serious climb and a quieter one than Kilimanjaro.
We do not sell climbs. If you want this, we will say so plainly and point you at people who do it properly.
Safari in Arusha National Park
Giraffe, buffalo, colobus monkeys in the forest, flamingo on the Momella lakes and Meru standing over all of it. No lions, which is exactly why you are allowed out of the vehicle here with a ranger.
This is one we plan. It works as a first day, before the long drives start, and it is the best half day in the area.
Horseback Riding
Day rides out of Arusha, across open country with the mountain in view. Experience is not needed for the shorter rides.
We arrange the day rides. We do not sell the multi-day ones.
Hiking at Lake Duluti
A crater lake inside a forest reserve, a walk of about an hour and a half around the rim, with monkeys, kingfishers and a wall of fig trees. You go with a local guide and you can take a canoe out.
Good on a morning when you have time and do not want to drive far. Skip it if you are already going to the national park, the two overlap.
Canoeing on Lake Momella
Inside the national park, on a shallow soda lake with flamingo on it, and often giraffe and buffalo on the shore while you are on the water.
One we plan, and it works well for anyone who has already done a game drive and wants a different angle on the same park.
Local Village Walk
A walk through a village on the slopes, past the farms and the coffee, with somebody who lives there.
We work with accommodation the community set up themselves, where you pay for a stay rather than for a visit. We do not sell visits to orphanages or schools. A child is not a sight.
Napuru Waterfalls
A walk through farmland and forest to a waterfall on the Meru slopes, around forty minutes each way, slippery in the wet months.
Fine if you are staying near it. If a waterfall is what you are after and you are starting from Moshi, Materuni is the better day.
Mountain Biking
Out of town and onto dirt tracks between the fields within a quarter of an hour, then up along the coffee with the mountain behind you.
We plan this, and it is the thing guests bring up afterwards that almost nobody booked on purpose. If you cycle occasionally at home, you can do it.
Meserani Snake Park
A snake park and a clinic on the Arusha to Dodoma road, with a small Maasai museum attached. It is a long-standing place and it treats snakebite for the surrounding community.
We do not plan it. Guests who want to see the snakes they have been reading about go, and they come back content. It is not a half day we would protect against the alternatives.
Maasai Market
Carvings, fabric, beadwork and a lot of attention from the moment you walk in. Bargaining is expected and the first price is not the price.
Go if you want to buy something and you enjoy the game. Go with your guide the first time. If you dislike being approached, you will not enjoy it, and that is worth knowing before you are in the middle of it.
Coffee Tour
Up on the slopes, on a farm, from the ripe cherry on the bush through pulping, drying, roasting in a pan over the fire and pounding in a wooden mortar, and at the end you drink what you ground.
One we plan. Of everything on this list it is the one that tells you most about how this region lives.
Cultural Heritage Centre
A large complex on the edge of town with a gallery, carvings, gemstones and a restaurant. The building itself is worth a look.
This works on a last morning before an evening flight, when you have a few hours and your bags are already in the car. We would not spend a planned day on it.
Golf with a view of Kilimanjaro
An eighteen hole course outside town, with Meru on one side and, when the air is clear, Kilimanjaro on the other.
For golfers. Clubs can be hired. Nobody else needs this on their itinerary.
Visit a Maasai Village
This is the one to be careful with. Many of the village visits sold around Arusha are built for visitors, with a dance at the gate and a sales circle at the end.
We do not sell them. What we do work with is accommodation the Maasai community set up and runs itself, where you stay the night and the money goes where it says it goes. Ask us and we will explain the difference.
Safari
Arusha is where the northern circuit starts. Tarangire is roughly two hours away, the Ngorongoro Crater around four, the Serengeti a long day by road or an hour in the air.
A day trip to Tarangire from Arusha is possible and we will say plainly that you spend most of it driving and see the park at its worst hours. For the Serengeti and the crater, anyone offering you a day trip is selling you a day in a car.
How many days to plan in Arusha
At least one night before the safari starts, and often two.
The reason is simple. You arrive off a flight of eight hours or more and your body is behind, and the first game drive goes past you in a haze if you start it the next morning having only just landed. A night here, or in Moshi, pays for itself on day two.
At the end of a trip a night in Arusha works differently, as a buffer before a late flight, with somewhere to leave your bags and a few hours for the Heritage Centre or the market.
Moshi or Arusha, where do you start
We get asked this often and nobody writes the answer down plainly, because answering it means having an opinion.
Arusha is bigger and more set up for safari, with more accommodation and restaurants, and it is better connected and more practical if you leave early or come back to a late flight. It has less of the quiet.
Moshi is smaller and greener, at the foot of Kilimanjaro, and it feels local. The slopes start just outside town, so the waterfalls, the coffee and the Chagga villages are a short drive away.
We start our own trips in Moshi, because we live there and because we think you begin better there. That does not make Arusha worse, it makes our choice clear.
We live two hours away in Moshi and drive this route every week. If you want to know how many days Arusha deserves in your trip, request a call.
