A short first day to shake off the flight. Drive from the lodge to Arusha National Park, under the bulk of Mount Meru, for a walking safari and a game drive. It is one of very few parks in the country where you may go on foot, which makes it the best possible opening to a safari: giraffe and buffalo at walking pace with an armed ranger, then the Momella lakes and the Ngurdoto Crater by vehicle. Back to the hotel in Arusha for the night.
Morning
Pick-up from the lodge in Arusha after breakfast and a briefing with the guide. Drive to the Ngurdoto gate, about an hour, and begin the walking safari with an armed park ranger through the forest and along the Momella lakes.
Afternoon
Picnic lunch in the park, then a game drive around the Momella lakes and the rim of the Ngurdoto Crater, with Mount Meru above and Kilimanjaro visible on a clear afternoon.
Evening
Return to Arusha in the late afternoon. Dinner and an early night before the drive south to Tarangire.
WildlifeGiraffe in unusual numbers, buffalo, bushbuck, warthog, black-and-white colobus in the forest canopy, and flamingo on the Momella lakes. No lion and no elephant to speak of, which is exactly why walking is permitted here.
SceneryMount Meru, the Ngurdoto Crater, the Momella lakes and the montane forest. Kilimanjaro on the horizon in clear weather.
The walking safari is escorted by an armed park ranger, whose fee is charged by the park. ARUSHA TOWN HAS NO MID-RANGE PROPERTY WITH RATES LOADED, so tonight's three options bracket mid-range instead of sitting in it: budget full board, premium bed and breakfast, luxury bed and breakfast. Confirm which the client wants before quoting.