We are going to be hunting in LOBO and Lolkisale in Masailand in November and upon
returning to Arusa after the hunt, I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it is worth
our time to stay an extra day or two in town for sight seeing or shopping.

Any Info will be appreciated.

Jim

Jim,
Sounds as if you will be hunting with Safari Trackers, correct? At any rate, we were there in December and had a great hunt and great time. Arusha is like Dodge City without guns. It is very congested and the diesel fumes are really something, but the pagentry of life is an experience that I enjoyed, at least for short durations. I would recommend that you spend your two extra days or so at Ngorongoro Crater National Park, 2 or 3 hours west of Arusha. It is a world class destination and must be seen to really be appreciated. You will see everything but crocodiles down in there. We booked separately with Adam's photo business, Tangynika Trekkers, but there are dozens and dozens of photo outfitters. Brian and I were in Lobo hunting. Who is you PH?

Forget the shopping - you'll be at the gateway of the northern photo safari circuit...... go check out the Ngorongoro Crater etc! - You won't be disappointed.....

Yellowstone,

Yes, we will be hunting with Safari Trackers
and Brian will be our PH.

Thanks for the info about Ngorongoro Crater National Park.

Jim

I agree about the Crater. One can take a very short flight to Lake Manyara and substantially cut the drive to the Crater. From the plane, one can see lots of evidence of volcanic activity in the area. Pretty shocking actually.

On one side of the crater, there is a small Maisai manyatta (if I am spelling that right). I think they call it a cultural exhibit. For a small donation, they will take you on a tour, including going inside the huts and a school. They also sing and dance. It was definitely worth it in my opinion. However beware that they are going to try their best and sell you a bunch of their useless trinkets.

Further, this exhibit is very close to Olduvai Gorge (again not sure of the spelling) where they found the oldest know human remains. It was very interesting.

Brian is a great PH and a lot of fun. You're going to have a hell of a good time. Lake Manyarra is a very pleasent surprise, a very wet ecosystem along the west wall of the Great Rift with a lot of wildlife. John Wayne filmed Hatari there. Lots of trinket shops along the road from the Loikosale turnoff to the crater and probably cheaper than in Arusha. Ask Brian.
You will probably have a good opportunity to mingle with the Massai in the hunting concessions as there as some very traditional villages in there and they are away from the tourist stops. There is one very unique spot in downtown Arusha worth experiencing. There is an obiliskin a traffic circle that is stated to mark the spot half way between Cape Town and Cairo. The riskiest part of your whole safari will be getting across traffic to have your picture taken literally in the middle of Africa.

Manyarra Nat Park is nice but if you have only half a day spare, Mt Meru Nat park is also nice .
ozhunter

I spent five or six days in Arusha in 2000. It's a town meant for 75,000 that now has ~500,000. More if you count those living on the hillsides in the dirt floor huts. In most ways it's below '3rd World' conditions but still interesting and some things are worth experiencing. Every smoke choking bus that Japan deems wore out seems to get sent there and will have people crammed in and on it about 20 people beyond capacity. The Chinese must have sold several big boatloads of their black bicycles there. Along the roadsides you will see guys welding with no goggles/mask, people dragging carts full of homemade cement blocks, guys riding a bike with an old tredle sewing machine on- board, and not far out of town you will see some real near stoneage stuff, (while a 747 flies overhead). You will see the evidence of wasted UN dollars in partially completed buildings. An OSHA inspector or a law suit lawyer would go into sensory overload at the stuff you see/encounter there.


Stongly suggest that you use a local guide to do the driving and stick to the daytime. There are parts of town that you don't want to go to.
I did spend time at a decent bar owned by an American. He was a shadowy guy from Texas that never mentioned his last name and had been shot in the leg a week or two earlier. The bar was named after the local monkey; 'Colobus Club' or something like that. Hard to say if its still there. Also a very high end jade/ivory place that (then) President Clinton had visited that you might find interesting.

But my favorite place was a hotel that I think was named the 'Outfitter Hotel'. A lot of the PH's stayed there between gigs. Met some real gnarley guys there and as long as I bought the beer they would entertain me with all sorts of stories

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Norman:
I did spend time at a decent bar owned by an American. He was a shadowy guy from Texas that never mentioned his last name and had been shot in the leg a week or two earlier. The bar was named after the local monkey; 'Colobus Club' or something like that. Hard to say if its still there.

Colobus club still exists but the Texan left "dodge" about 4-5 years ago.

quote:

Also a very high end jade/ivory place that (then) President Clinton had visited that you might find interesting.

The Cultural Heritage Centre. While not cheap, it does offer the best selection of Tanzanite and other gemstones in town. It is also a 1 stop shopping centre where you can buy gemstones, t-shirts, courtney boots, old Africana books, curios, antiques etc. It is geared very much to the visiting hunter and tourist.

quote:

But my favorite place was a hotel that I think was named the 'Outfitter Hotel'. A lot of the PH's stayed there between gigs. Met some real gnarley guys there and as long as I bought the beer they would entertain me with all sorts of stories

That's the "outpost". It is owned by a PH, Steve Atwell, and his wife Kathy. Very basic, but a clean place to stay if one is transiting town.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwanamich:

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Norman:
I did spend time at a decent bar owned by an American. He was a shadowy guy from Texas that never mentioned his last name and had been shot in the leg a week or two earlier. The bar was named after the local monkey; 'Colobus Club' or something like that. Hard to say if its still there.

Colobus club still exists but the Texan left "dodge" about 4-5 years ago.

Was his nickname "Tex"?

Never heard of that, but then I don't recall his first name either...