Everything You Need To Know About Tarangire National Park
Everything You Need To Know About Tarangire National Park : Tarangire National Park, located just a few hours’ drive from Arusha, is a diverse and picturesque African wildlife sanctuary known for its elephant migration, birding, and authentic safari atmosphere. Tarangire National Park is a popular stop for visitors making their way through the northern safari circuit to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. This park in Tanzania is well-known for its safari tours, and it has drawn thousands of tourists for many years. Tarangire is a surprisingly large park that offers visitors the quietest game viewing environment of any park in the region. Set in an ecosystem ten times larger than Manyara Park, the conservation area is solely owned by the Maasai people, and visitors can learn about their culture and way of life.
Tarangire National Park safaris feature large herds of elephant and buffalo as well as a remarkable concentration of big cats, making it one of Tanzania’s best national parks. Tarangire National Park in Tanzania is well known as a fantastic birding destination and is an excellent choice for visitors looking to see a diverse range of bird species. When visiting this national park, the massive baobab trees are a major draw, and they also provide an excellent opportunity for photography.
TARANGIRE FACT
- Location: 118 kilometers southwest of Arusha.
- To Do: Guided walking safaris, game drives, and cultural visits to neighboring villages
- Known for: Tanzania’s largest elephant population.
THE BEST TIME TO VISIT TARANGIRE
Tarangire is a year-round game viewing destination that is beautiful in both the wet and dry seasons. The park is especially good for wildlife viewing between August and October, when the wildlife is at its densest.
PARK HIGHLIGHTS
Diverse Wildlife
Tarangire is home to all of Tanzania’s most iconic animals, with the exception of the critically endangered black rhinoceros. These animals range from the diminutive dik-dik to the towering African elephants and giraffes that draw visitors from all over the world.
Aside from these well-known animals, the park is also home to three endangered species found nowhere else in the country: the fringe-eared Oryx with its graceful horns, the towering greater kudu, and the tiny Ashy Starling.
Tanzania’s largest elephant population
Tarangire is famous for having the largest elephant population in Tanzania. During the dry season, herds of up to 300 elephants can be seen digging in the Tarangire River’s seemingly dry riverbed in search of underground streams.
Even during the wet season, when other park inhabitants can disperse across the park’s 20,000 square kilometers, elephants remain a common sight due to their large numbers.
Migration
Tarangire National Park hosts a migration between June and November each year, which, while not as spectacular as the Serengeti’s legendary wildebeest migration, is still a sight to behold.
As other water sources dry up, the Tarangire River becomes the park’s sole source of water, attracting massive herds of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and hartebeests, as well as the lions, leopards, and other predators that prey on them.
Tarangire offers fascinating wildlife viewing during this time of year, as the dry landscape makes it easier to spot large groups of animals on the move.
Swamps
Tarangire’s swamp network, located in the park’s eastern and southern regions, serves as a vital water catchment and sanctuary for the park’s elephants, Cape buffalo, and more than 500 bird species.
The Tarangire swampland, a seasonal swamp that dries up during the dry season, offers intriguing game viewing opportunities for those looking to see wallowing elephants, Silale swamp lions, tree-climbing pythons, and even the rare African wild dog.
Everything You Need To Know About Tarangire National Park : Birdwatching in Tarangire
Tarangire National Park is a well-liked destination for birdwatchers due to its wide variety of habitats and food sources. Tarangire is an absolute haven for birdwatchers; it is home to more than 550 different species of birds, the most in all of Tanzania.
Hoopoes, hornbills, brown parrots, white-bellied go-away birds, and game birds like helmeted guinea fowls, yellow-necked spurfowl, and crested francolins reside in the park’s woodlands.
Yellow-collared lovebirds, lilac-breasted rollers, mousebirds, swifts, striped swallows, starlings, bee-eaters, hammerkops, plovers, Kori bustards, bateleur eagles, steppe eagles, and the enormous lappet-faced vulture are some of the park’s other well-known residents. And those are just a few examples!
For those who are interested, Focus East Africa Tours can organize specialized bird-watching safaris. Reach out to us to learn more.
Everything You Need To Know About Tarangire National Park : The Baobab Tree
No other plant, besides the acacia, is more closely associated with Africa than the noble baobab. The baobab, also referred to as the Tree of Life, gets its distinctive shape from the fact that it can hold between 300 and 1000 liters of water inside its elongated trunk. This venerable tree, which can live up to 600 years, is particularly prevalent in Tarangire National Park.
According to legend, baobab trees once traveled across Africa on their roots until their actions infuriated God. So that they would be permanently tethered to one location, he planted them upside down.
Practically speaking, the Tarangire animals rely heavily on the baobab for food because its seeds are edible and its bark can be used by elephants to sharpen their tusks.
The infamous “poacher’s hide” can be found in the park. It is believed that up to twenty hunters were hidden here at once during the peak of the illegal trade in ivory.
Kolo Rocks Art Site
The Kolo Rocks, a proposed World Heritage Site near the park, are home to prehistoric rock shelter remnants and ancient rock art created by hunter-gatherers in the past.
TIPS FOR YOUR VISIT
- Tarangire tends to be less crowded than Tanzania’s other national parks because it is not as frequently visited by safari tourists.
- Inquire with your tour guides regarding Omo, a rare white giraffe that debuted in the park in 2015.
- The climate in Tarangire National Park is temperate, with temperature variations determined more by elevation than by the season.
- While the rainy season is divided into the short rains (from November to December) and the long rains (from March to May), the dry seasons are from January through the end of February and from June through October. The Migration arrives during the dry season, which is typically thought of as the best time to travel because it allows for the best game viewing.
- Since summer migrants will have arrived and resident birds will be sporting their vibrant breeding plumage, the rainy season is a good time to go birding.
- While prophylactics are advised for Tarangire visitors year-round, the risk of malaria increases during the rainy season.
- If you have the time, think about visiting Tarangire National Park and the nearby Lake Manyara National Park at the same time. It is only 43 miles (70 km) away and is well-known for its tree-climbing lions and the enormous flocks of flamingos that adorn its name-giving soda lake.
