Tarangire National Park

A dry season retreat

In the northeast of Tanzania is Tarangire National Park. Its name is from the Tarangire River, which flows through it. Although the game is probably not as abundant as in other parks, Tarangire is less visited making it a lovely place to visit.

Magnificent baobab trees are a prominent feature of the park, their vast trunks a distinctive sight across much of the area. During the wet season, many of the animals disperse to the Maasai Steppe and the wildebeest and zebra head northwest to the Rift Valley Floor so the best time to visit Tarangire is between July and November during the dry season, when the permanent waters of the Tarangire River become the lifeblood for a multitude of animals.

The range of wildlife found here is very similar to that of the Serengeti. The park supports huge herds of elephants. There are great quantities of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, giraffe, eland, impala and warthog. Two localised species of antelope are the fringe-eared oryx and the gerenuk. All the main predators are represented here too.

Interesting and varied birdlife

Tarangire is a birdwatcher’s dream as the park is said to have upward of 500 recorded species. Soaring overhead, you might see bateleur eagles, fish eagles and palmnut vultures. Saddle-billed and yellow-billed storks favour riverine habitats while the woodland yields yellow-necked spurfowl, silverbird, red-fronted barbet, orange bellied parrot and barefaced g0-away bird with its idiosyncratic call. Vulturine guineafowl, Donaldson-Smith’s nightjar, northern pied babbler and pink-breasted lark, yellow-collared lovebirds and ashy starlings are other lovely sights.