Hatari Lodge

a wonderful range of unusual activities

Hatari Lodge is located in the Arusha National Park area of northern Tanzania.

Hatari Lodge is owned by German expats Marlies and Jorg Gabriel, who we have known personally for many years. They love this particular corner of Tanzania and have done a great deal to promote much-needed tourism here.

The lodge is centred on an historic farmstead, established in 1906 by the Von Trappe family, of ‘The Sound of Music’ fame.

It also has interesting Hollywood connections, having been owned for some years by actor Hardy Kruger, who fell in love with the place whilst filming the blockbuster movie ‘Hatari’ with John Wayne at the adjacent farmstead during the 1950’s.

Today the place is a stylish and comfortable lodge, with elegant and homely public areas featuring an eclectic range of pop-art and modern African art. Verandahs and a campfire area provide views over the surrounding grasslands, with giraffes, waterbucks, zebras and other animals often in view.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Hatari Lodge is in nine individually styled and very comfortable rooms.

Activities

Hatari Lodge provides the following guided activities, not all of which are usually included in the price …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Mountain hiking
• Cultural interaction
• Food tours

The walking in this area is truly superb, with options to hike through montane forests to a remote waterfall, into an incredibly dramatic volcanic caldera and even up onto the high plateau of Mount Kilimanjaro. Keen walkers can easily plan for three or more full days here.

Arusha National Park tends to feature in depressingly few trips. It is a far more interesting and rewarding area than the very low visitor numbers imply, but unfortunately it has to compete for nights with the extraordinary safari areas of the greater Serengeti area.

The usual stay duration is 1-4 nights, where one night at the front end of a trip positions you to take the fabulous back road route to Lake Natron, whilst four nights would enable you to really explore the area properly.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Arusha National Park is during the Jun-Oct dry season, but it really can be explored at any time of year.

If you want to hike to the top of Mount Meru, then it is best to avoid the cooler Apr-Jul period, when snow falls can block the return from the summit, which can be extremely dangerous.

Getting there

Arusha National Park is easily accessed from the main road between Kilimanjaro International Airport and Arusha Town, from where it takes just a few minutes to reach the park gate.

a really interesting but unusual place to deploy a few nights