A 4-Day Riding Safari Under Mount Meru with Kantara Safaris

Day 1: Arrival and Introduction Ride

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where you’ll be welcomed and transferred for around thirty-five minutes to Kili Villa, your first-night lodge. After settling in and meeting the other riders, you’ll enjoy lunch followed by a safari briefing to prepare you for the days ahead. Later in the afternoon, a short drive takes you to the stables for an introductory ride, giving everyone the chance to get comfortable with their horse before entering the national park.

The first ride takes place on a wildlife estate, where zebra, wildebeest, and eland roam the open spaces. With luck, you may also spot the rare gerenuk, one of East Africa’s most elusive antelope. You return to the villa in time for showers, sundowners, and dinner.

Day 2: Ride Into Arusha National Park

Wake to tea and coffee, with breakfast served from early hours. After breakfast, you’ll drive for about twenty minutes to the Arusha National Park gate, where the horses are waiting. Shortly after, you ride into one of Tanzania’s most beautiful parks, where the scenery shifts dramatically from open grassland to rainforest beneath a towering canopy.

This is a day rich in wildlife possibilities, with chances of encountering buffalo, elephants, and a wide variety of plains game, alongside rarer forest species and exceptional birdlife. The experience becomes especially magical in the deep canopy forest, where the light softens and the world feels quieter.

Lunch is served along the route, followed by time to rest before continuing the ride through areas often referred to as leopard country. As the afternoon unfolds, you pass by Margarete Trappe’s historic home and follow paths once ridden by this legendary figure, whose stories still echo through the “holy forests” of the park. You arrive at camp at the foot of Mount Meru in time for showers, sundowners, and dinner under the stars.

Day 3: Fig Tree Arch and Momella Lakes

In the morning, the colobus monkeys are often the first voices you hear in the forest. After breakfast, you ride toward the area where the classic film Hatari was filmed, before beginning a steady climb on horseback toward the famous Fig Tree Arch, a striking natural formation large enough for multiple horses to pass beneath.

The ride continues to a scenic lunch spot beside a waterfall, with the fresh mountain air adding to the atmosphere. You are now riding at around 2,000 meters above sea level, surrounded by lush forest scenery. After lunch, you ride back toward camp, and later there is an optional drive to the Momella Lakes, where hippos and beautiful water birds are often seen. Sundowners by the lakes offer a peaceful close to the day before returning to camp for dinner.

Day 4: Final Ride and Departure Options

After breakfast, you mount for the last ride back toward the park gate, enjoying a final morning in this remarkable landscape of forest, wildlife, and history. By late morning, you reach the Arusha National Park gate, dismount, and say farewell to your horses.

From here, some guests continue onward to other safari destinations, while others return to Kili Villa for another night before flying home. If you’d like to extend the equestrian experience, an additional stay with optional horse polo days can also be arranged.