A family-run banda lodge on Momella Road, on the boundary of Arusha National Park under Mount Meru — the natural first or last night of a northern-circuit safari.
Meru Mbega Lodge sits on Momella Road at Usa River in Arumeru, directly on the boundary of Arusha National Park and under the bulk of Mount Meru. It is run by a German-Tanzanian family with more than thirty-five years in the business, and is part of Baobab Village Co. Ltd alongside Meru Simba Farm. Accommodation is in bandas of two kinds, Meru and Simba, each taking between one and four guests, so a family shares one unit rather than booking two rooms. There is a swimming pool, conference facilities, a cultural tourism programme and bicycles for hire, and the lodge runs its own walking tours through the neighbouring forest and farmland. Its position makes it the obvious base for the Arusha National Park day that opens a northern-circuit trip: the gate is minutes away rather than an hour back down the road in Arusha town.