Arusha National Park
Meru Mountain
The Mt. Meru section of the Park, which lies west of the Ngare Nanyuki road, is entered through a gate opposite the main Momela Gate. The Ngare Nanyuki River, fed by rain from the mountain, runs through a boulder-bed area and crosses the road soon after the gate. If you plan to walk anywhere on the mountain you must be accompanied by an armed Park ranger.
Under Tululusia Hill
Tululusia Hill, with its gentle curved shape forms an interesting backdrop to the scenery. Tululusia means "'sentinel"' in the local language. Tall yellow barked fever trees can be seen here in the swamp. These acacia trees always grow in damp places and were thought by early explorers to cause malaria. On the grasses below herds of buffaloes congregate, warthogs kneel to graze and tawny eagles perch in the branches.
Tawny eagles are a uniform brown with a relatively short rounded tail. The plumage can vary from dark to pale brown, but the latter is not seen in Arusha. Tawny eagles are abundant in East Africa and they feed on small mammals and gamebirds, such as francolins and guineafowl.
Warthogs are usually found in family groups of females and their young but sometimes the previous year's young stay in the family. Males, easily identified by their impressively curved tusks, normally live by themselves, only joining the groups for mating. A typical sight is to see warthogs running away with their tails in the air. Warthogs live in burrows, taken over from other animals.
Tululusia River drops over a waterfall as it flows towards the swamp. There is a road to the waterfall which passes several dead Bridelia micrantha trees but it is sometimes washed away by the river. The best cue to use to locate the fall is a large fig tree which is growing to the left of the waterfall. The main road now leads towards Tululusia Hill and the campsites, and the ground soon begins to rise more steeply and alter its character. The Tululusia Observation Point gives a good view of the mountain and across to the other half of the Park.
Lower Montane Forest
Here at an elevation of about 2000 meters (6,562 feet) you have entered the lower montane forest. The taller trees mainly consist of African olive and the white flowered Nuxia congesta. Along the roadside and in clearings where there is less competition, many shrubs and flowering plants grow. Very obvious is Cassia didymobotrya with its black tipped orange-yellow flowers. This semi-woody shrub can grow up to six meters in height but is mostly seen at half this size or less.
Other very common shrubs are Vernonia subuligera with its pithy stems, broad leaves and mauve flowers and, superficially rather similar, Crassocephalum mannii which has narrower leaves and yellowish flowers. At ground level the rich orange flowers with dark centers are "Black-eyed Susan", Thunbergia alata.
Bushbuck are found in this part of the forest Bushbuck are medium-sized antelopes usually with rufous-brown coats and light spots on the haunches although in Arusha Park some very dark colored bushbuck are found. They have vertical stripes on the body and white half-collars around the base of their necks. Short, single-spiral horns are present only in the males, but both sexes have white, rather bushy tails, which are raised as a "flag"' as they bound for cover.
The road continues steeply up, passing through the open area of Itikoni with a chance to see the mountain before reentering the forest. Scaly francolins dart away from the road verge as you pass.
Fig Tree Arch
 This unusual tree formation has been caused by the strangling habits of the wild fig Ficus thonningii. Seeds of the fig are dropped in the fork of a host tree by feeding birds. The seeds then germinate and put out aerial roots. These roots eventually reach the ground, slowly strangling the host tree which dies, leaving the fig replacing it. Two host trees must once have stood on either side of the road before being smothered by the fig tree now growing. The aerial roots in the center of the archway are prevented from filling in the opening by elephants which browse them off as they grow.
Higher Montane Forest
Now at an elevation of about 2300 meters (7,546 feet) the higher montane forest begins. This forest is composed mainly of juniper (sometimes called African Pencil Cedar) and East African Yellow Wood or"Podo", as well as a member of the holly family, Ilex mitis. In order to distinguish between podo and juniper you should look at the bark. In podo the bark is pale grey and horizontally and vertically fissured which gives a ragged scaly look, whereas in juniper it is fissured vertically, often peeling in long narrow strips and is pale brown in color. This is the largest type of juniper in the world and, like podo, is valuable as timber.
Olive pigeons, which feed on the juniper berries and wild olives, may be recognized by their dark coloring and the noisy wing-flapping which is so characteristic of their flight when taking off from a tree. They are present in both the lower and higher forest. Even though flocks of noisy red-fronted parrots are also common in the juniper forest, these birds feed mainly on Podocarpus fruit.
Other birds likely to be found here include Hartlaub's turaco, which is brightly colored green and purplish-black with crimson wings and notable for its raucous call similar to that of a colobus monkey.
Also present are the two beautiful species of trogons Narina's and the bar- tailed. Trogons are medium sized forest birds with long broad tails, brilliantly green soft plumage above with vivid red on the belly. Although brightly colored they are often overlooked and are best located by their calls. In Narina's trogon it is a series of soft coos all on one note, whereas the bar-tailed emits a series of clear double whistles. The bar-tailed is smaller and darker, with tail feathers barred black and white and is less common.
There are many glades in the forest where buffaloes graze the succulent grasses. These openings in the forest may originally be caused by elephants or tree falls. Once the area is opened up, the buffaloes, by constant grazing, ensure that no trees reestablish themselves. Beneath the forest canopy and also in the glades grows a profusion of wild flowers including a little blue vetch-like plant, Parochetus communis, and the serrated leaf Alchemilla volkensii, known as Lady's Mantle.
Four types of epiphytes, or perching plants, are to be seen in the branches of the trees: orchids, mosses, lichens and ferns. None of these plants nourishes itself at the expense of the host tree so is not classified as parasitic.
At Jekukumia it is possible to walk down to where the Jekukumia and Ngare Nanyuki rivers join. Above this point the Ngare Nanyuki contains sweet wafer, but the Jekukumia is salty and unfit for drinking. In the local language, Kimeru, the word Jekukumia means "sometimes hot, sometimes cold" and refers to this unusual trait of the river which is probably caused by the fact that it rises in a volcanic region.
Beware of elephants and buffaloes as you descend to the river and also look out for the stinging nettles, Urtica masaicus, which can sting even through light cotton clothing. Colobus monkeys should be visible in this area.
Special Thanks to Thomson Safaris and Tanzania National Parks for contributing Tanzanian information.
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