Tarangire National Park is only a few hours’ drive from the city of Arusha and is a popular stopover for travellers taking the northern safari route en route to NgorongoroNgorongoro and the Serengeti. The park covers two wildlife-controlled areas where animals are free to roam. Before the rainy season, flocks of gazelles, wildebeest, zebra and giraffe migrate to the bushveld areas of Tarangire National Park, where the last grazing areas remain. Tarangire offers unparalleled game viewing, and elephants abound in the dry season. Families of pachyderms play around the ancient trunks of baobab trees and peel acacia bark from thorn trees for their afternoon meal. Breathtaking views of the Maasai steppe and the mountains to the south make a stopover in Tarangire an unforgettable experience.

 Herds of up to 300 elephants scour the dry riverbed for underground streams, while wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland frolic in the shrinking lagoons. It is the largest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem – a smorgasbord for predators – and the only place in Tanzania where dryland antelope such as the stately fringed oryx and the peculiar long-necked gerenuk can be regularly seen.

 During the rainy season, seasonal visitors to Tarangire National Park scatter over a 20,000 square kilometre area until they have exhausted the green plains and the river calls again. But the elephant herds of Tarangire are easy to spot, wet or dry. The swamps, which are coloured green all year round, are home to 550 species of birds, the most in a single habitat in the world.

On drier ground, you’ll find the kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird, the ostrich, the largest bird in the world, and small groups of hornbills that scream like turkeys. Avid birders should keep their eyes peeled for screeching flocks of the colourful yellow-breasted kingfisher, the slightly plainer red-tailed weaver and the ash starling – all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.

 Termite mounds that are no longer in use are often frequented by colonies of the adorable pygmy mongoose and by pairs of red and yellow barbets, which attract attention with their loud, clockwork duet. The pythons of Tarangire climb trees, as do the lions and leopards that linger in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree hides the twitch of a tail.

Location: 118 km (75 miles) southwest of Arusha.

 Getting to Tarangire National Park

A one-way drive from Arusha or Lake Manyara on a paved road to 7 km before the main entrance; from there you can continue to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Charter flights from Arusha and the Serengeti.

What to do in Tarangire National Park

Guided walking safaris.

Day trips to Maasai and Barabaig villages and to the hundreds of ancient rock paintings near Kolo on Dodoma Road.

Accommodation

Two lodges, one tented lodge, two luxury tented camps within the park and another half dozen exclusive lodges and tented camps just outside the park boundaries, plus several campsites in and around the park.

Why visit?

• Embark on a walking safari and marvel at ancient baobab trees.
• Discover hundreds of ancient rock paintings near Kolo.
• Tarangire is famous for its elephant herds, home to up to 300 animals.
• Tarangire is an often overlooked gem whose distinctive silhouette, framed by the thick branches of baobab trees, provides an excellent backdrop for game viewing, especially in the winter months of the high season. The swamps, which turn into green grasslands in the dry season, attract large herds of elephant, buffalo, antelope and other plains animals.