1 day · Day trip
Lake Chala Day Trip
A crater lake on the Kenyan border, fed by underground springs from Kilimanjaro, ringed by a 170 m rim. Walking, canoeing and swimming, and almost nobody there.
Is this trip for you?
Trip type
Private departure
A single day, planned around your pickup time and your interests, with your own vehicle and guide.
Ages
All ages
Day trips are the easiest way to travel with small children or with anyone who would rather not sleep under canvas.
Fitness
Easy to moderate
Most day trips involve an hour or two of walking on uneven ground. The Kilimanjaro day hike is the exception and asks for a full day on your feet.
Group size: 1 to 7 travellers per vehicle
Day by day.
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1
Lake Chala
Fifty-five kilometres east of Moshi, Lake Chala sits in a steep-walled crater on the border with Kenya, up to 80 m deep and fed from beneath by Kilimanjaro's springs. The walk down and around takes you from lakeshore forest to volcanic savannah and river beds carved through old rock. Depending on the season there are hundreds of species of butterfly and bird — African fish eagle, Verreaux's eagle, augur buzzard — and blue and colobus monkeys, baboons, dik-dik, kudu and, occasionally, elephant. Canoeing, swimming and fishing are all possible. Back in Moshi in the late afternoon.
- Overnight
- Your own hotel
- Where
- Lake Chala crater
- Driving
- About 1.5 hours each way from Moshi
- Meals
- Picnic lunch
Where you sleep.
Not applicable
Day trips return to your own hotel in Moshi or Arusha the same evening. If you have not booked one yet, tell us and we will suggest somewhere in the right part of town for your pickup.
We book against availability for your dates rather than naming a property we may not be able to get you into. Your written quotation names every lodge and camp before you pay anything.
What is included
- All park entrance and administrative fees
- A packed lunch
- 1.5 litres of drinking water
- Transfers from and to your hotel
- 4x4 transport for the day
- Professional English-speaking guide
- Staff fees
Not included
- International airfares and departure taxes
- Visa fees
- All items of a personal nature
- Tips and gratuities for your driver and guide
- Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
When to go.
Year-round
Every day trip on this page runs in any month. Waterfalls are at their most impressive during and just after the rains, and the Chemka springs are warm whatever the weather is doing outside.
Questions about this trip.
Can we swim in the lake?
Swimming is possible and people do it, but the crater sides are steep and there have been crocodile reports over the years. Your guide will tell you where it is sensible on the day, and canoeing is the safer way to get out on the water.
How much walking is there?
As much or as little as you want. The path down to the water and back up is the steep part; the rim walk beyond that is gentle.
On this route
Where you will be.
Compare
Other day trip journeys.
Materuni Waterfall & Coffee Tour
The best single day out from Moshi: a green walk to a waterfall, then a Chagga coffee tour where you take the beans from tree to cup yourself.
- Materuni waterfall and cold pool
- Pick, roast and pound your own coffee
- Chagga village and lunch
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Chemka Hot Springs
A spring-fed pool of clear turquoise water under fig roots, about an hour from Moshi. The right thing to do the day after a climb.
- Clear, warm spring water
- Fig tree roots and rope swing
- Picnic lunch at the pool
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Arusha National Park Day Trip
Game drive, walking safari and canoeing in one day, in a park that sits under Mount Meru less than an hour from Arusha.
- Walking safari with an armed ranger
- Canoeing on the Momella lakes
- Colobus monkeys in the forest
Pricing on request View itinerary
Plan it with us
Make this itinerary yours.
Add days, drop a park, change the pace. This is a starting point, not a fixed departure.