Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire national park is located in the Mayara region North of the tourist town Arusha, found in bordering the meadows of the Masai Steppe in the South East and the Great Rift valley in the North and West. Tarangire national park covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers approximately 1,100 square miles making it the 6th largest national park in Tanzania after Ruaha, Serengeti, Mikumi, Katavi, and Mkomazi. The park’s landscape is mostly composed of the large baobab trees, ridges, Tarangire swamp, and the rift valley.
The park is located about 120 kilometers from the tourist city Arusha along the tarmac main road that connects all the four North circuit parks of Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti, and Tarangire, it was established in 1970.
Tarangire national park derived its name from the long serving river that crosses the park in the middle called the Tarangire River. The river acts as the primary source of water for wildlife in the park and also the variation of the park ecosystem. The park ecosystem is generally defined with the long-distance wildebeest migration which occurs during the dry season where thousands of animals from Masai Steppe come close to the river to search for fresh water.
Most guests who prefer private and silent tour packages go for Tarangire national park as its among the few and less visited parks making it less crowded compared to Serengeti or Ngorongoro crater hence giving you the greatest opportunity to enjoy class wildlife experience seeing more and more animals.
Wildlife and flora
Tarangire national park animals are more of migratory except the large herds of Elephants which are the largest tourist attraction in the park. The animals migrate to the North-western Corridors during the wet months of November to May where the highest percentage of the animals go to the Masai Steppe. The animals usually come back during the dry season from June to October to leave around the river banks of Tarangire River. This is the best time to visit Tarangire national park if one wants to get the best wildlife experience through viewing a big game like wildebeest, zebras, Eland, Buffalo, Giraffes, Elephants, gazelle, Oryx, Black Rhinos, Leopards, Lions, hyenas, Cheetahs and many more.
The park boasts with over 500 bird species with the ash starlings taking the view always, other birds are Loverbirds, secretary birds, doves among others. The dry open grassland dotted with Acacia thickets favors a large number of bird species in Tarangire not forgetting a large number of swamps at the park that attract the swamp birds and water birds.
Major activities at Tarangire national park
Wildlife viewing: Tarangire national park boasts for its large elephant population with a record made when the oldest Elephant gave a bit to the healthy twin baby Elephants. Game viewing is the most activity done which can be done on the whole day or in two game drives morning and evening game drive. The park has over 300 Elephants, wildebeest, lions, leopards, zebras, Impala, Kudu, rhinos, buffalo, oryx and others. Tarangire is among the few parks that allow night game drives inside the park, this gives guests an opportunity to see nocturnal animals during their stay in Tarangire. From 2005 Tarangire was considered lion conservation area for the research of the big cats. In 2015 miracle white giraffe was sited at the park and research was conducted about the animal where it was discovered that it was due to Leucism.
Birding:Being a host of over 500 bird species, Tarangire national park is termed as a birding paradise for the birders. The park hosts both swamp habitats and the forest birds that are spread all over the park
Sightseeing: The huge baobab trees that are distributed across the park that makes your safari very interesting. The mighty Tarangire river stands out even if it’s a dry season the vegetation around the river banks is evergreen that attracts more animals and beautiful evergreen vegetation. The sightseeing can be done through walking safaris around the park which are allowed with the lead of the game ranger. We add this through a visit to Maasai or Barabaig villages to see the ancient art paintings.
