Tarangire National Park

Overview

Tarangire National Park ranks sixth largest national park after Katavi, Mikumi, Mkomazi, Ruaha and Serengeti. This National park derives its name from Tarangire River which crosses at its center. The river is the only permanent source of water for the wild animals especially during the dry spells. During such seasons, that is around mid August all animals congregate at this point, which is their last reliable water source.

Location

Famous for its huge number of elephants, thousands of baobab trees and tree climbing African pythons, Tarangire lies south east of Lake Manyara and covers an area of approximately 2,850 sq km. Although it is relatively small, the park enjoys easy accessibility and boasts with some of the greatest concentrations of game in Tanzania -second only to the Ngorongoro Crater also an added bonus which makes it a truly incomparable scene attractive to many tourists than other Tanzanian parks. It is the vast number of baobabs that first capture the eye as you enter Tarangire National Park. The gently rolling countryside is dotted with these majestic trees, which seem to dwarf the animals that feed beneath them.

Geography

Tarangire has regions of pretty dense bush, but with high grasses and massive aged baobab trees unlike green forests of Manyara. The land is hilly and dominated by the imposing valley of the Tarangire River and attracts good numbers of migrant animals during the dry months, more commonly between July and September. The National Park however is a quiet, seasonal park with wide views to distant volcanic mountain ranges. Tarangire covers 2,850 sq km of grassland and floodplains, and a large proportion of tall acacia woodland just south of the open grass plains of southern Masailand.

Wildlife

Tarangire is also the best place in Tanzania to observe buffalo and huge numbers of elephant (up to 300 at one spot). In reality, the game numbers overall are overwhelming: 3,000 elephants, 5,000 buffalos, 2,500 Masai giraffes, 25,000 zebras, 25,000 wildebeests plus over 1,000 fringe-eared Oryx. Predators range from lions (tree-climbing just like their in Lake Manyara), cheetah and leopards. During the dry months the concentration of animals around the Tarangire River doubles as in the Ngorongoro Crater. There are a few resident lions, which are easier to spot when the migration arrives to excite their taste buds since they don’t tend to abandon their territory. Tarangire is a great spot for elephant gatherings at the end of the rainy season in June, and zebra and wildebeest return together through July.

The Birds

There are a fantastic number of colorful birds flying down and blustering along the rough paths throughout the year, with likely spots including the Paradise Whyder and endearing Yellow-collared lovebirds. In other months they look quite mean and lean and slip easily between the lengthening grasses. The park is also known for its great avian diversity, in which it is surpassed only by Lake Manyara. Bird watchers will want to look out for the endemic ashy starling, rufous-tailed weaver and black-collared lovebird.

When to Go

The park is spectacular in the dry season when many of the migratory wildlife species come back to the permanent waters of Tarangire River. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebras, elephants, eland and Oryx gather to stay in Tarangire until the onset of the rains when they migrate again to good grazing areas. As the land dries and the smaller rivers stop flowing, the herds head south towards the permanent water in the Tarangire River and its surrounding swamps.

As a safari holiday destination going on a safari here offers you a chance to savor a real slice of Africa’s wilderness.

Travel Alert
Be warned though, the going can be rough and many of the tracks are impassable in the rainy season.