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Recommended Activities in Arusha?

cooks514

Hi, We arrive in Arusha 2 days before the July 24 Great Migration tour. Does anyone have any recommendations for activities for 2 days in Arusha? We were thinking of visiting the Arusha National Park one day. We would be interested in sharing a tour if there is anyone else arriving early who is interested. This is our first trip to Africa.

Comments

HooHeel

I'm leaving for the K&T tour in a couple of days--landing around 4pm. The following day is a recovery day around the hotel with a spa appointment. The next day ("Tour Day 1") for me is Arusha NP.

I've attached the brochure our TD sent to us with day trips from Arusha through Tauck's partner, Kearsley's. I booked via email as indicated on the brochure. Once we picked one (Arusha NP), I asked my TD to email our group so that anyone who wanted to join us would have the opportunity.

Also, point of note, our travel documents show NOTHING planned for Day 1. However, our TD is meeting with us at 4:30pm that day, so I've made sure to ask that Kearsley's get us back in time to clean up before that meeting. Not sure what your GM itinerary shows for Day 1.

More discussion here: https://forums.tauck.com/discussion/18660/july-26-trip (Under East Africa > Kenya & Tanzania > July 26 trip)

Arusha -Kearsleys - Tauck Arusha Excursions 2025.pdf

British

It is usual for a meeting in the afternoon to be scheduled but it never appears in the itinerary. So just be aware.

cooks514

HooHeel, thank you for posting the brochure. How far ahead of your trip did you hear from your tour director? We still have 6 weeks until departure. We arrive at 7AM 2 days ahead so want to plan something for the following day. We are thinking of booking directly through the Rivertrees Inn. Now I can see what to expect for pricing for the different options.

Wan

I've already booked ours through the Gran Melia Arusha, I would imagine they use the same touring company? I did not know that Tauck would be sending this information.

Wan

I was able to answer my own question above. The Gran Melia Arusha uses Dolphin Tours for their excursions. Does anyone have any experience with that company? The pricing is a tiny bit more favorable but not enough to choose based on cost. We have not paid anything yet, and still have time to cancel.

British

I’m interesting to know how much they are charging and does that include admission to the park?

Wan

The price breakdown is the same for Dolphin's and Kearsleys. They describe the same fees.

British

Yes, but how much? It wasn’t very experienced when we went and there was just the two of us and it included the walking safari but we had to pay for the Park entry fee separate back then. I think the hotel provided a picnic lunch which we ate by the lake with all the flamingoes.

Wan

In the brochure posted by HooHeel above are prices for Kearsley's. For Dolphins, depending on how many in the jeep, it is something like $20-40 cheaper per person, but I could have been given last year's prices. Vehicle cost, Park entrance fees, and guide fees, with or without the walking part are posted for both companies. The hotel provides lunch for a fee in both cases.
It sounds like you get a park guide when you arrive, so it's not even clear that it's a company guide with you the whole time?
I've not had this situation before where Tauck is dealing in optional tours like this.

British

Tauck does not have it as an optional tour as far as I know. It’s just that many people chose to take the pre day to go there. When the tour stayed at a different resort by Lake Duluti, we took that tour by organizing it ourselves too.

Wan

If you look at the first page of the brochure above, there is clearly some sort of business association between Tauck and Kearsley's.

British

Yes Kearsley subcontracts the vehicles to Tauck for the safari tours in K and T. The first time we went, Tauck had their own vehicles

cooks514

There are no activities listed on our GM itinerary until Day 2 of our tour. No optional tours. I will report back when I get the info from Rivertrees. There are activities listed on their web page, some with prices and others we need to contact for information.

HooHeel

I just returned this morning from K&T. The Kearsley's brochure I attached above was sent by my TD (Calden) about a month prior to our tour to help those of us who were arriving early to plan something to do. I purchased a box lunch from the Gran Melia hotel to bring on the day tour. The Kearsley's guide was with us all day--except for the duration of the walking tour. We walked for 60-90 minutes with a park ranger--got up close and personal with some giraffes, saw some cape buffalo & other animals not too far away, and visited a waterfall.

I know nothing about Dolphin Tours, but I will say that the four local Kearsley's guides who were with us for all of our Tanzania days were top notch, and the booking process & communications with Kearsley's for this day trip went smoothly.

Wan

Thank you! Tauck representative says the agency used by the hotel is reputable, so we will probably stay with it.

cooks514

HooHeel, welcome home!! We have not yet heard from our Tour Director so we have made arrangements through our hotel for the Arusha National Park tour with a box lunch provided on the day after our arrival, and another half day tour of Arusha and a Coffee Plantation for the following day to get a flavor of Africa. They are willing to customize their tours to our interests. Your link to the brochure from Kearsleys was very helpful.The prices of the tours booked through the Rivertrees Inn are competitive with Kearsleys and the tours that they offer are similar.

Do you have any recommendations of good places to eat dinner in or near Arusha?

British

If you are staying at the Melia hotel, they have a small coffee plantation attached to the hotel

SandyFeet

cooks514, In my experience it is not wise to go into Arusha for dinner or anything else on your own. You are better off staying at the hotel for meals.

British

No, don’t go into Arusha. This is East Africa, You don’t want to be out at night. Also, it’s developed in a ribbon design along the road, so very stretched out. There are not the type of places to eat that you would want.

Sealord

Stay in the Tauck bubble. Hatari!

cooks514

Thank you for your experienced advice.

cooks514

We received an email from our Tour Director yesterday with helpful information including an activity brochure from Kearsley's, more abbreviated than the brochure attached above by HooHeel. He also recommended staying at the hotel for our meals, reinforcing the great advice found by experienced Africa travelers on this forum. Thank you all again.

Graytsky

We are arriving Sept 6th for Sept 8th K&T and received the attached quote for the ANP day tour. If anyone is interested in joining us please let me know and we can connect.
HooHeel, since you dd this tour recently kindly share your insight on the difficulty and pace of the Walking Safari. TY

Arusha -Kearsleys - Tauck Arusha Excursions 2025.pdf

British

We took the walking safari years ago. It’s an easy walk over terrain which looks like fields and you visit a lovely waterfall. It will probably be an early start to avoid the walking part in the heat of the day. Do bear that in mind when you will be jet lagged and continuing to have early wake up calls for the entire trip. There is usually an unscheduled Tauck meeting on the afternoon of that day that you don’t want to miss. Enjoy! When we were in the park last year, we were surprised to see a cheetah that had not been seen in years.

British

The Colobus monkeys have those long fluffy white tails

British

The close up of the Colobus I have was on the camera so not easy to post here, All these are from my iPhone. A selection showing the landscape, narrow road, and so on.

British

Sorry, don’t know how they got doubled

gladysorlando984

The visit to Arusha National Park is worth it, nice walk, you'll see a lot of animals and the hotel will fix a lunch that you can have in a nice area overlooking a lake.

Mary Margaret McClure

Beautiful photos, British! Thanks for sharing!