Arusha, Tanzania - Wander the Planet .net

ARUSHA, TANZANIA

Arusha is the safari capital of East Africa at the foot of Mount Meru. Nearly all safaris into Ngorongoro and the Serengeti start in Arusha. I used Arusha as a base and stayed a few days in between trips to Ngorongoro Crater and Zanzibar. There's plenty to keep you busy and it's worth staying in Arusha and wandering around for a day or two instead of just passing through.

I first arrived in Arusha from Moshi. I got off at the Arusha bus station about 10am. All the guidebooks warn you about the bus station - as Arusha is the hub for Northern Circuit Safaris and touts are all over you when you arrive. For some reason, when I got off the bus no one tried to sell me a safari. I was obviously a tourist with my big backpack so I don't know what was up.

Anyway, I hightailed it out of the bus station and walked straight just to get away. I ducked into a store, pulled out my map, and asked where Rickshaw Travel was. I was just a block away! So I went to the travel agent to book my plane ticket to Zanzibar - $191 round trip from Kilimajaro Airport to Zanzibar. That will save me 2 days of travel time - which I needed! After I bought my ticket, I went down 3 blocks to the Meru House Inn (Sokoine Road).They don't have that many backpacker hostels in Tanzania (compared to Southern Africa) - so you choose from fancy hotels or bed/breakfast inns in the outskirts or divy hotels in the city center.

Location is everything so I picked a divy hotel in the city center. Meru House was mentioned in a few of the guidebooks as a cheap, clean place to stay. I splurged on a single room with bathroom for 9,000 TS ($9) per night. The room was fine and had a mosquito net which was cool. It also had a restaurant on the 2nd floor called the New Meru Cafe open for dinners every night.

I made deal with one of staff to wash some of my clothes (still dirty from safari) for 5,000 TS. I unpacked and then ventured out to explore Arusha a bit. It takes some getting used to all the attention - a single female walking around with loads of men everywhere talking to you - but I am good at saying "Jambo" (hello) or "hapana" (no) and then walking past.

Clock Tower

Things kind of slow down over the weekend so I went in search of a weekend trip that I could join. I said that I wouldn't do a safari in Tanzania but I couldn't help myself! I am such a sucker for those animals! I booked a Saturday-Monday safari going to Lake Manyara and Ngorogoro Crater through Victoria Expeditions for $80 per day. This time it was a real camping safari with tents and sleeping bags on the ground.

About 4:30pm, I stumbled upon a cafe that was showing a local art exhibit - the artist had really cool paintings - too bad I can't buy any! At 5pm I ordered beef stew and sat back and listened to a cool jazzy/hip hop band that started playing. It was great and I was the only tourist in the place! I left about 9pm and I took a cab back to Meru House.

After the safari, I headed back to Arusha for a day. I went to the International Conference Center to check the schedule for the trials. I really wanted to listen to a trial of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda - as they are open to the public. But they didn't have any scheduled for when I was in Arusha. Shoot!!! So I went to the Arusha Declaration Museum (Kaloleni street) and browsed the exhibitions of colonial history and struggle for independence. It was quite informative and only 3,000 TS!

I went to the Jambo Cafe for lunch (a backpacker place in central Arusha) and read the paper. Clinton is in town. I had about 2 hours to get to the airport so I decided to take a matutu instead of the free shuttle that Air Tanzania provides (I'm trying to diversify my transportation experiences!). So I ask the guy at the Jambo cafe how I can get a matutu to the airport. He tells me what corner to stand on and what hand signal to use and tells me it should only be 300 shillings (about 40 cents). Alrighty then - I do what he says and within 10 minutes I am squished and gasping for air in an old VW-like minivan. Ha ha ha. Actually it only had 10 passengers when I got it so I got a seat and could keep my pack on my lap. Within another 10 minutes, we had 23 people in the van. How is that possible??? I said a little prayer and tried not to notice the fact that we were going fast as hell! About an hour later (we kept stopping), we were at Kilimanjaro Airport. Of course, I could not see THE MOUNTAIN because it was cloudy again. How is it that it is the biggest mountain on the continent but a few clouds make it invisible to one of its biggest fans. ARGH! ARGH! Double ARGH!

Tanzania Flag

The Arusha Times

Arusha Weather

Arusha has a population of about 400,000.

Arusha has several districts including the Central Business Area, located by the Clocktower, Sekei in the North-West which is a residential area, Njiro, a suburb in the South, and Tengeru, a market-town in the East.

At the nearby International Conference Centre, some of the most important peace treaties and international agreements in modern African history have been signed. The Rwandan war crimes tribunals were held here, as have been several attempts to broker peace in the Great Lakes States.

Arusha's Clock Tower is supposedly situated at the midpoint between Cairo and Capetown.

Mount Kilimanjaro Airport is the closest international airport to Arusha and is about an hours drive away.

The curio markets between the Clock Tower and India Road are filled with crafts cheaper than the purpose-built curio shops outside of town where most tour guides take you.

The Arusha Declaration National Museum is dedicated to the landmark Tanzanian Uhuru Freedom Movement of the 60s, and affords a fascinating perspective into this crucial period of Tanzania's history.

A slang name for the city among locals is "A-Town".

The offices of the National Parks authority in the International Conference Centre is a good place to pick up literature and maps, and to find out details of entry to the parks.