Arusha

Why go

The gateway to the northern circuit — Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Manyara all leave from here. Kilimanjaro and Meru — two volcanoes, one of them climbable in a week from the town. A working East African city — markets, tanzanite dealers and the East African Court of Justice. Ngorongoro Crater — a collapsed caldera holding 25,000 large animals inside twenty kilometres.

The character

Arusha sits at 1,400 metres between Mount Meru and the Maasai Steppe, and its entire modern function is logistical: this is where safaris are outfitted, permits checked, vehicles loaded and guides hired for the northern circuit. Around 400,000 people live here, the market is large and loud, and the tanzanite trade — the stone is found only in one hill forty kilometres away — runs from offices in the centre.

What the town serves is extraordinary. The Serengeti's migration of nearly two million wildebeest and zebra moves in an annual circuit through the ecosystem; Ngorongoro is a collapsed volcanic caldera twenty kilometres across whose walls keep some 25,000 large animals inside a bowl of grassland; Tarangire has the elephants and the baobabs. None of it is visible from Arusha, which is the point of a gateway: the town is where the trip is assembled, and the correct attitude is to spend a day here properly rather than treating it as an airport with shops.

Places of character

Central Market — spices, produce and the town's actual economy; go with a guide the first time. Cultural Heritage Centre — tanzanite, carving and a serious gallery of contemporary East African art. Arusha National Park — an hour away, with Meru, giraffe and the Momella lakes; walkable safari on foot. Ngorongoro Crater — three hours west; descend at dawn when the floor is still cold and the lions are up. Serengeti — the migration's position changes monthly; the calving grounds in February are the strongest sight. Shanga — a workshop employing disabled artisans in glass and beadwork, on a coffee farm outside town.

The way to do it

Choose the operator carefully — it matters more than any other decision on this trip. Give Arusha itself a day at either end. Time the Serengeti to the migration's position over to a calendar month. And do at least one walking safari, in Arusha NP or a private concession, because a vehicle changes everything you see.

One perfect day

This is a gateway, so the perfect day is the departure: up before five, coffee in the dark, and out of Arusha as the light comes onto Meru. Three hours west with the Rift wall on your left. Down into Ngorongoro by mid-morning, on the crater floor with the wall rising all around and lions, elephant and — if you are lucky — black rhino inside a single bowl. Picnic by the hippo pool. Out by four, up the wall with the whole caldera behind you. Night at a lodge on the rim with cloud pouring over the edge, and the crater invisible below.

Grand hotels

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge — on the rim, extravagantly decorated and with the best position in East Africa. Gibb's Farm — a working coffee farm on the crater's outer slope, quieter and more interesting.

When to go

Best expression: late January and February for the calving in the southern Serengeti, with predators following. Consider: June to October, the dry season, when animals concentrate at water and the roads are good. Avoid if possible: the long rains of April and May, when many camps close.

The frame

Ideal stay 1 night either side of a safari · Minimum a night on arrival · Best arrival by air to Kilimanjaro · Airport JRO, 50 km · Walkability the centre with a guide · Best without a car no — a vehicle and driver are the trip