It always surprises me how few visitors to northern Tanzania make the effort to visit the underrated Arusha National Park. This, as its name suggests, is the closest park to the safari gateway town of Arusha (the drive takes around 45 minutes) and it packs a huge amount of diversity into a relatively small area.

Set in the shadow of Mount Meru, the park incorporates rainforests alive with colobus monkeys, tracts of savannah grazed by giraffes and zebras, spectacular calderas and waterfalls, and much more besides.

While here you’ll want to take a canoe trip on the gorgeous Momella Lakes where you’ll see plenty of hippos, buffalo and flamingos.