Like its big sister Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru is also the remnants of a once active volcano. A hike to the peak of 4562m is a rewarding climb from the outset. Meru is located in a National Park where you can observe a variety of big game animals such as giraffes, zebras and buffalo so you might have changes to see them on first day of climing. Safaris to Arusha National Park can be arranged independently from the Meru climb, and makes an ideal day trip from town. The park features some beautiful scenery, such as 7 alkaline lakes as well as a fresh water one.

A 3 or 4 days climb of Mount Meru is excellent acclimatisation for Kilimanjaro, but equally worthwhile in its own right. You will be sleeping in comfortable huts, accompanied by a guide and armed park ranger. The terrain varies from wooded savannah to heath land and finally the rocky summit with amazing views across to Mount Kilimanjaro.

Small groups of Hadzabe bushmen live around Lake Eyasi. Their language resembles the click languages of other bushmen further south in the Kalahari. Their small population was seriously threatened, in particular during the period when Julius Nyere tried to introduce his Ujamaa policy. The tribe resisted the forcible settlement policies of Julius Nyere and nowadays most of their children have never seen a doctor or school – the bush provides for all their needs and is a class room for their offspring.

They are often willing for visitors to come and see their simple bush homes where the tree canopy alone or a cave provides them with shelter. They live entirely off the bush and from hunting, generally small antelopes and baboons, although in rainy seasons gazelles and antelopes come down from the Ngorongoro or Serengeti to their then lush bush lands offering them richer pickings. In the recent past their hunting activities were resented by trophy hunters who tried to stop their “illegal” hunting.