Day Trips from Arusha
For those arriving into Tanzania from Australia or America, or from any time zones that are several hours ahead or behind, or from anywhere that requires several plane changes, an intelligent strategy is to allow a day or two’s leisure in Arusha prior to your climb. The reasons for this are:
- Around 1 in 7 people have their luggage delayed. Most delayed luggage arrives 24 hours after it’s supposed to. (Delays are most usually caused by short intervals between connecting flights).
- Prolonged airline travel tends to dehydrate and tire people. This adversely affects the body's ability to acclimatise. Having a day at leisure allows rehydration and revitalisation.
- A day getting used to Arusha’s elevation (around 1,450m) and the dry air, helps with adaptation to Kilimanjaro.
- Those who do not have time to go on safari after their climb often appreciate the opportunity to see a little of the local (non-alpine) environment and culture.
Other than safaris, there are several day-trip options available to be enjoyed from Arusha. We briefly summarise the seven most popular options below.
Arusha Town Tour
This is a popular day trip, requiring only some three hours and little or no transport. Those interested to see the main features of Arusha will begin somewhere around the Clock Tower, on foot, with one of our guides and will usually begin walking northwards in an anti-clockwise direction, taking in such sites at the Natural History Museum, various monuments celebrating independence, the local market, and some craft shops. A town tour typically takes some 2-3 hours and covers around 4 km.
Tours are completed on foot with one of our guides. The cost is USD 20 per person with climbers buying their own food and drinks along the route, as required. Tips to the guide on this town tour are entirely at the climber's discretion but tend to be around USD 10 per climber for smaller groups, and USD 5 per climber for larger groups. For climbers staying at hotels out of town, an additional vehicle transfer cost is payable.
Those staying at hotels close to town can either do the whole tour on foot (around 13km of walking), or can enjoy vehicle support (USD 26 per car) to transfer them from place to place along the route. Here's a map of a typical Town Tour route 👇
A nice way to end a town tour is to do a Coffee Plantation Tour at Arusha Coffee Lodge. Their Bean to Cup tour costs USD 35 per person.
Hot Springs
This is probably the best place to swim. Emanating from within the earth, the geo-thermally warmed water is constantly renewed and is therefore very fresh and clear and clean. It’s a very pleasant place to spend a couple of hours with family, or to relax before or after a climb.
The distance from Arusha to the hot springs is 69 km and the journey normally takes around 1 hour 45, so one should allow 5-6 hours for this excursion.
Faraja Orphanage, Arusha
The work this orphanage does is incredibly valuable. We recently learned of one child who was found abandoned on a rubbish dump by local people that knew of the orphanage. Still today nobody knows who her parents are and yet she is now so happy and well cared for! One of our climbers came to meet this little 6 year old girl and spent two days with her and now sponsors her school career with quarterly payments of USD 250.
For those burdened to do so there is opportunity to make a tremendous difference in the lives of these little ones, and many clients leave this place in tears, more moved than they ever thought possible, and with a strong desire to one day return.
Around 2-3 hours should be allowed for the trip. The costs cover our staff fees and vehicle support. Most climbers choose to donate a small gift to the orphanage in addition to this, but are not obliged to do so. The orphanage is very much encouraged by visitors simply being willing to spread the word and encourage others to visit.
Meru Waterfall
This is a beautiful little waterfall, with its principal advantage being its proximity to Arusha. The journey from Arusha is just 7 km and takes only 15 minutes. Having parked, there is a short walk that involves some steep ground and some clambering, but is quite manageable, even for young children.
Once we reach the waterfall, it is usual to enjoy the environment with a picnic, included in the price. Costs include transport.
Cave Falls
This option is suitable for those who want to spend more time walking as, following a 30 minute / 13 km vehicle transfer to the area, access to the waterfall requires a 2 km walk along a river bed. The walk to the falls takes a little under an hour and some 40 minutes to get back to the vehicle, if completing a circuit. Bear in mind that to get back to the car requires a height gain of 60 metres, so while not strenuous, one should be prepared for this.
Lake Duluti
Two options are possible on this excursion: either one may walk around the lake or canoe across it. Depending on which hotel we start from, the drive is around 15-20 minutes to reach the lake. The walk around the lake covers some 3.5 km, however, we normally have a picnic along the way and may stop regularly if we encounter birds, monkeys or monitor lizards.
Costs for the lakeside walk include the government conservation fee walk. Please note that use of canoes is extra, with hire fees being payable direct to the local government office.
Maasai Crater
This is a dramatic topographical feature with steep falls that fall away into a lush green crater. The attraction of this walk is threefold: the exercise, the awesome views, and the opportunity to meet authentic Maasai villagers. If walking around the crater rim, we cover around 4.2 km, however, climbers will often want to descend to the crater floor, which may add another 3 km or thereabouts. Bear in mind that if descending to the crater floor, the return to the rim requires an ascent of 257 metres, which will normally take somewhere between 30-50 minutes and is quite strenuous, dusty and exposed to direct sunlight with virtually no shade.
The costs include transport, lunch, local entrance fees and a small gift to Moita village.
Arusha Day Trip Costs Per Person in US Dollars
This is a safari itinerary that is recommended when the wildebeest migration is towards the south of the Serengeti.
This is a safari itinerary that is recommended for around January to February when the wildebeest migration is towards the south of the Serengeti. (Please note that dates depend on availability of flights and receipt of full payment).
Following a rigorous 8 days spent on Kilimanjaro this is a good, varied use of limited available time on safari, which strikes a good balance between game viewing, fascinating cultural insights, and activity on-foot.
After a very challenging trek on Team Kilimanjaro's Excel Series, this safari is a great use of limited time to enjoy some game viewing, fascinating cultural exchange, and vigorous on-foot activity in the heart of the African bush.
We read widely divergent estimates of deaths on Kilimanjaro, but how dangerous is it really? In this post we share our own experience of the dangers.
First of all - you can definitely still climb Kilimanjaro during COVID-19! There is absolutely no impediment within Tanzania. Issues only potentially arise with your own country's rules.
Although there is no requirement to have a PCR test for COVID in order to enter Tanzania, many climbers are nonetheless required by their airline to show evidence of a negative COVID test before boarding the flight home.
Since the onset of COVID-19 and the immediate and dramatic subsequent loss in booking numbers suffered by tour operators as a consequence of travel restrictions imposed both by governments worldwide, and initially, the Tanzanian government itself, it has been surprising to TK that the Tanzanian government has not made more effort to make information available to prospective travellers explaining how to go about ensuring that they are able to comply with their own country's travel requirements on returning from their Kilimanjaro climb or Tanzanian safari.
Most of this donation was given to the orphanage on 12th November 2020. Funds received during the climb will be given on 20th November, the day after the climb ends.
Kilimanjaro’s Western Breach is a beautiful and breathtaking place but represents the most risk-associated assault route to Kilimanjaro’s summit, of the four options currently sanctioned by Tanzania National Parks.
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TK Excel Road, Arusha, Tanzania
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