Pre-tour activities in Arusha
Looking for suggestions of tour operators other than Tauck/Kearsley?
I wanted to sign up for a couple of tours through Kearsley as I will arrive in Arusha 2 days ahead of my tour start. Apparently no one has signed up for the Arusha National Park so I would have to bear the full cost of the tour. I don’t think I want to do that and be the only person on the tour bus. Lol!
Has anyone booked tours outside of what Tauck/Kearsley offers?
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No, there is really not a lot worth seeing apart from going to Arusha National park which I highly recommend as it is very different from the other places you will visit. Otherwise just chill out in the hotel, recover from jet lag and enjoy your sleep because you will be rising before dawn for all your safaris and very very early for the balloon ride.
There is a little onsite tour at the hotel to see where they grow herbs and vegetables as well as coffee. We were just wondering around the hotel and some of the employees saw us and offered us a tour. As British mentioned, enjoy the resort and sleep. It's very beautiful and relaxing there.
Thanks for the feedback.
We were there the end of August 2025 and arrived one day early for the Tauck tour and enjoyed the "tour" of the grounds of the hotel like someone else mentioned and a massage. But there were a few folks who arrived 2 days early and they all raved about going to the Cultural Heritage Center. We were aware that our tour would stop there in a few days and chose not to go. Boy, I sure wished we had gone earlier, because the day we went (which included a delicious lunch) we didn't have near enough time to see/shop/tour a museum as we would have liked. We had just missed seeing Jane Goodall (who actually died unexpectedly Oct 1, 2025) and the man who owns the center said he was working with Disney to create a museum built around Jane. In addition to all the incredible tanzanite jewelry, local wood carvings and crafts, there is also an art museum on site as well. Several people in our Tauck group bought large art work, etc. and had it shipped home from there. Might do some research and check it out!
We actually saw Jane Goodall when we stayed at the Melia and my husband had a conversation with her. They had been filming there that day. He was thrilled to bits. We were on the Bridges tour and had a good amount of time at the Cultural center. It is much larger now than when we first visited in 2007. I bought some African fabric amongst other things.