Arusha National park

A short drive from Arusha Town, this is one of Tanzania's smallest but most beautiful parks and is incredibly topographically varied. Its main features include Ngurdoto Crater which is surrounded by forest while the actual crater floor is a swamp; the Momela Lakes which are shallow and alkaline and therefore attract a wide variety of birds, particularly flamingos. The lakes themselves are fed by underground streams and due to the varying mineral content each lake supports a different type of algal growth which accounts for the different colours. The birds themselves seem to have their own favourites with different species gravitating to different lakes. Mt Meru itself is a mixture of lush forest and rock with a spectacular crater. Common sights in the park include baboon, buffalo, dik-dik, elephant, hippo, hyena, mongoose, monkey, reedbuck, warthog, waterbuck and zebra.