Arusha National Park, Tanzania’s only national park named after a city, Arusha National Park is a jewel within easy reach. In spite of its proximity to the safari capital though, this park is hardly visited – a welcome news to those adventurous few who come here to enjoy this tiny park’s expansive views, beautiful volcanic scenery, breathtaking rainforest and abundant wildlife in relative solitude.

Taking up most of the park’s space is the mighty Mt. Meru, a stratovolcano that was once higher than Mt. Kilimanjaro and Tanzania’s second highest mountain. A quarter of a million years ago, a violent eruption blew off its entire eastern wall, hurling gigantic boulders some 70 Kms east of the mountain and reducing its height to the current 4566 meters. Although classed as dormant, earth tremors still occur and a series of minor eruptions were recorded in 1910. Hiking Africa’s fifth highest mountain is often looked upon as an acclimatization and fitness trip prior to scaling Kilimanjaro and despite the fact that Meru’s summit is over a kilometer lower than Kili’s, the climb is a lot more steeper and can be just as challenging and rewarding as scaling Africa’s roof top. Some breathtaking scenery is to be had along the way including unmatched views of its bigger neighbor and herds of Buffaloes, Giraffes and Zebras grazing calmly as you passionately wind your way through the seemingly endless mountain trail.