Arusha National Park
Sir Julian Huxley called Arusha National Park “a gem amongst parks” for its beauty and remarkable diversity of wildlife and habitat. Elephants, buffalo, warthogs, olive baboons, giraffes, bushbucks, and black-and-white colobus monkeys seem relaxed and comfortable in settings ranging from swamps, rain forest, acacia woodlands to the various elevational life zones on the sides of Mt. Meru, fifth-highest peak in Africa. Huge migrant waterfowl flocks stop by lakes which commonly accommodate flamingos, grebes, African pochards, Egyptian geese, and avariety of herons and egrets. Elsewhere are augur buzzards, crowned hawk-eagles, and brilliant white-fronted bee-eaters, among almost 400 bird species in this 53-square-mile (137-km2) sanctuary just 21 miles (34.5 km) from Arusha. Momela Lodge, spectacular set for the movie “Hatari,” looks into Meru Crater, called one of the most startling landscapes in Africa. There are other lodges and campsites.
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