Arusha National Park, the closest national park to Arusha town – northern Tanzania’s safari center – is a multi-faceted treasure that is often ignored by safarigoers, despite the fact that it offers the chance to experience a dazzling array of ecosystems in only a few hours.

The entrance gate leads into a shady montane forest populated by curious blue monkeys, colorful turacos, and trogons — the only spot on the northern safari circuit where the acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkey may be viewed up close. The stunning Ngurdoto Crater, whose sheer, rocky cliffs encircle a large marshy floor studded with herds of buffalo and warthog, is in the middle of the forest.

The serene splendor of the Momela Lakes, each one a different colour of green or blue, is encircled by rolling grassy hills farther north.

The lakes sustain a diverse range of resident and migrating waterfowl, and shaggy waterbucks flaunt their big lyre-shaped horns on the watery borders, with their shallows sometimes tinted pink with hundreds of flamingos. Between grazing zebra herds, giraffes glide across the grassy slopes, while pairs of wide-eyed dik-dik dash into scrubby brush like giant hares on short legs.

Leopards and spotted hyenas can be observed slinking around in the early morning and late afternoon at Arusha National Park, despite the absence of elephants and lions. The curtain of cloud on the eastern horizon is also most likely to dissipate around twilight and morning, showing the spectacular snow-capped peaks of Kilimanjaro, which are barely 50 kilometers (30 miles) away.

Mount Meru, Kilimanjaro’s quiet cousin and Africa’s sixth tallest peak at 4,566 meters (14,990 feet), dominates the park’s horizon.

Meru, with its protected peaks and eastern foothills, provides unrivaled vistas of its famed neighbor while also serving as a great trekking destination in its own right.

The ascent of Meru begins in a forested savannah, where buffalos and giraffes are common, and continues into woods ablaze with red-hot pokers and dripping with Spanish moss, before reaching high open heath studded with huge lobelias. As delicately-hoofed klipspringers indicate the hike’s progress, everlasting flowers cling to the alpine desert. Kilimanjaro is uncovered, glowing in the morning, atop the jagged peak.

Arusha National Park is located in Tanzania.

552 square kilometers (212 square miles)

Northern Tanzania, northeast of the town of Arusha