Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National park is one of the largest safari game parks in Tanzania yet receives minimal number of tourists in a year. The park occupies an area of more than 2,600sq km south east of Lake Manyara National park, near the safari town of Arusha (to the south west)

The

Tarangire River

crosses through the park draining into several swamps and floodplains found in the park. The rest of the park area is covered in grasslands, traditional baobab trees, doum palms, acacia woodlands and many other trees recorded to be more than 100 years old

Wildlife

The dry season that starts in June and ends late in November is a good time to visit Tarangire for game drives. Several species of the Tarangire eco-system are then spread over the plains with regular sights like zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, elephants and impala. Other animals within this Tanzania national park include Thompson gazelles, fringe-eared oryx, kongoni (hartebeests), kudu, dik-dik,, hippos, baboons, vervet monkeys, lion, spotted hyena, bat eared fox, jackals, rock hyrax, ground squirrel, porcuopine, civet, mangoose, waterbuck, giraffe, cheetah and many other animals.

The

Tarangire Migrations

are known to take place around the dry season. Many animals such as a few antelope species, hartebeest, predators and wildebeests migrate north west to lake Manyara national park and further north in the search for water and fresh pastures. The long rains of April and May will force the herds back into the park marking their annual local Tarangire migrations.

Birdlife

More than 350 different birds are recorded to have nests within Tarangire. The best time for birding safaris in Tarangire are October to April when many Eurasian migrants flock in for the duration of the European winter. Some of the sights seen in the park include saddle billed stork, ostrich, open billed stork, sacred glossy ibis, marabou stork, green backed heron, goliath heron, kestrels, harriers, buzzards, eagles, eagles, kingfishers, bee eaters, European rollers, lilac breasted roller, horn bill, wood peckers, sunbirds and fly catchers among other birds.

Tarangire Park Accommodation

The are several exlcusive safari lodges with luxury safari accommodation within Tarangire National aprk and some of the options include Tarangire Sopa Lodge found within the park, Tarangire Treetops lodge and Tarangire Safari lodge are located north border of the park. Mawe Ninga Tented camp is a luxury safari camp within the camp in the north west near Tarangire hill. Other camoing sites within the park include Swala camp on the fringes of Gursi Swampand Oliver’s camp on the banks of Tarangire river to the south part of the park and many other public campsites.

The park is reached by road from Arusha (118km) and by light charter flights from Arusha and Serengeti. From