February 4, 2008, I visited Arusha National Park, Tanzania. I had arrived on Superbowl Sunday at Kilimanjaro International Airport. The rest of my co-workers would trickle in over the next few days. I flew in one day early to have a chance to see the local attractions. The hotel we would be operating from, Ngordoto Mountain Lodge, was about halfway between the airport and the town of Arusha. It was built on the grounds of an old coffee plantation. I was picked up at the airport by a representative from the US Embassy in Tanzania. The vehicle, an old Toyota Landcruiser, was configured with a roll-back top for use on safari trips to the local parks and wildlife refuges. I asked if it would be possible to go into Arusha National Park the next day and the driver said he would be available and suggested he pick me up around 8:00 a.m.
The park entrance was only about two miles away from the hotel.
We spent the day touring the crater lakes and forest that surrounded Mount Meru, an impressive volcano that geologists say would have been taller than Mount Kilimanjaro fifty miles to the East Northeast had Meru not blown its top like Mount Saint Helens did back in 1980.
Meru's explosion took place millions of years ago, and left half the mountain missing. I got to hike on the foothills of the mountain with my guide, Dominque, armed to protect us from Cape Buffalo herds that we passed on the way.
After spending an interesting night with bats flying around my hotel room, and listening to the loud, shrieking animal calls in the forest nearby, I met my driver and we started a personal safari drive through the park.
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