Tarangire National Park

This park probably had the greatest concentration of animals living close together. Most photos includes giraffes and elephants in the same shot. Vast elephant herds.

The landscape here is what I loved the most... and the elephants wandering around the lodge was a bonus!

Tarangire by far surpassed our wildest expectations. Up close, and personal, with lions, elephants, monkeys and a long, long list of fascinating wildlife. Add to this a fantastic lodge and an outstanding guide!

Everything you want from an African safari

When you think of Tarangire, you think of elephants. Lots and lots of elephants.
On average there are approximately 3000 elephants living in the park, so chances are that you will see a few of them. Certainly in the morning or late in the afternoon, you can easily find them when they migrate between the bush and the river area. With a bit of luck, they end up right next to (or in front of) your jeep.

The park is one of the highlights of the northern safari circuit in Tanzania. It is fairly close to Arusha, approximately a 2 hour drive, but it is recommended to stay at least one night in one of the lodges in the park. All the way through the park, there runs the Tarangire river. This river provides some breathtaking scenery, certainly when you find the right picnic spot or you make a stop at the Tarangire Safari Lodge and enjoy the view from their terrace. With a bit of luck, you will find a big herd of elephants and many other animals on the plains and the riverbed right down the cliff on which the lodge has been built. A visit to the Tarangire Safari Lodge really is a must if you are visiting the park. It is one of the most beautiful views you will see in Eastern Africa. Of course, you could also stay there for the night.

The northern part of the park is the most busy part, and rightfully so. There is so much to see in this area and in general you will not see too many vehicles at the same time, apart from the entrance gate and at really special game sightings.
Besides the elephants, you will find all sort of large animals, like zebra, wildebeest and giraffes and cats like lions and cheetahs. When we visited the park, the cats were fairly active and we witnessed a cheetah hunting impala and two female lions checking a warthog out if he (or she) was any good for lunch.
The large animals are very compelling of course, but don’t forget to look for the small animals and birds as well. One of the smaller animals that quickly became one of our favourites is the dik-dik. We even found a pair right next to our lodge when we checked in. Furthermore, there are birds in all sizes, from ostriches and secretary birds to lovebirds and there are plenty of birds of prey to spot.

All in all, Tarangire is everything you want from an Eastern African safari, all in one park. Breathtaking scenery and an abundance of game to enjoy.

Great scenery, full with huge baobabs, and all the elephants you ever dreamed of seeing.

I spent 3 hours on safari in Tanzania, and saw a pair of cheetahs (and recorded their sweet cry to one another), lions, ostrich mating dance, a gazelle 20 feet up in a tree (killed and dragged up there by a leopard!) and a lion kill!!!

Stayed in a lodge in the park I wish we would have stayed a day just in the lodge alone, again food was excellent.

I can't remember everything we saw there, but I do remember a very positive experience. It's not far behind the Serengeti.

We watched leopards hunting from the comfort of our tent terrace!

This was my favorite park. It seemed a little out of the way (maybe it was the direction we came from). We were one of only a handful of vehicles in the park while there. We must have seen a thousand elephants, they were just everywhere. We also saw a cheetah, impala, zebra, giraffe, a cobra going across the road and tons of birds. I don't even like birds and I found myself really interested in seeking them out here. They were very unusual and again, we didn't see the same ones anywhere else. We stayed at Tarangire River Camp which was perfect. We were actually the only people there due to the season. The staff treated us like family, food was great and we got to hear elephants and lions at night.