Tarangire National Park’s scenic beauty and sense of isolation makes it worth a special place of list of rewarding destinations.
Although it is only a few hours up the road from Arusha, lots of tourists speed past its turn off unknowingly while journeying to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. In doing so, they miss out on the wildest park on Tanzania’s northern circuit. A classic African big game sanctuary that has harbored over 80 generations of elephants, lions, buffaloes, wildebeests, common elands, zebras, hartebeest, and gazelles.
Tarangire’s landscape is iconic for its huge baobabs, anthill-dotted plains, swamps, 500 square miles of acacia glades, pretty rolling hills and valleys of golden grass. The picture is complete with majestic ebony woodland.
The best advice for anyone wanting to visit Tarangire for encounters with mammal species is to come in the dry season from June and October. During this time, the only water for miles around is the Tarangire River at the heart of the park. Here, thousands of both predators and herbivores from the Masai Steppe congregate at different times of the day to cool off.
It is from this river that the park got its name. This wildlife estate provides one of the highest densities of elephant of any park in Africa, look no further than this river. You are bound to lose track of the number of elephants you will see, sometimes in herds of up to 60 or more.
The best part of the story is that due to the park’s sense of isolation, you might not see another vehicle during your visit. Most of the time, you will feel like you are in your own private reserve.
The bird watching experience is good, too as there are over 500 recorded species. It is here that we saw our first-ever pennant-winged nightjar. You can’t go wrong with Tarangire if you are looking for dry-country bird species at the extremity of their range, like vulturine guinea fowl and the northern pied babbler.
The park harbors several of them. Other specials to look out for include the dazzlingly colorful yellow-collared lovebird, as well as the ashy starling and drabber rufous-tailed weaver, both of which are limited to the dry Savannah of north-central Tanzania. Migratory birds are mostly present from November to April.