The town of Arusha is the little safari industry hub of Tanzania, where all major logistics, supply and support offices are located. The local airport connects Arusha with local scheduled and charter flights across the country to all other major airports, national parks, and game reserves. Tanzanian National Parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Authority (NCA) headquarters are in Arusha, but the ministry of tourism and wildlife’s offices are in Dar es Salaam.
From Arusha, it’s easy to go on a half-day or full-day excursion onto Arusha National Park if you have time. At Mount Meru, you can see all the normal plains game and key mammal species before you visit the Serengeti and Tarangire. It’s also a place to see elephant, buffalo, giraffe and the area’s primates – olive baboon, vervet monkeys, Sykes’s monkey, and black-and-white colobus monkeys.