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Terry Divyak
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 15, 2015
Elephants everywhere and a true magical kingdom
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especially in Tarangire. After awhile you see so many that they become almost common place, even showing up at hotels to roam the grounds. Our Guide, Gabriel from Maasai Magic Safaris was so knowledgable about animal behavior and obviously loves what he does. He was very patient for this photographer to get the shots I needed and made sure that my trip met all my expectations.
Colin S. Johnson Photography
US
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The home of the elephant. The scenic views of Tarangire with its rocky foundation, baobab trees, and valleys provide an amazing backdrop to the wildlife. You will see many elephants at Tarangire guaranteed. A must stop on your Tanzania safari. I would recommend 2 days minimum to explore the park.
Tom Robinson
GB
Visited:
October 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
Email Tom Robinson | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A beautiful park with lots of elephants. It seemed a little busier than other parks we visited but we saw a lot and very close up!
Don Petersen
Visited:
July 2014
Reviewed: Jun 9, 2015
My Favorite park in Tanzania
This park has a great scenery, and wonderful wildlife. I would have enjoyed spending more time in this park over a few others we visited. Our group also visited Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and Ngoro Ngoro Crater and thought Tarangire was our favorite. The accommodations were very nice, and our guide Alfred was the gem of our trip. He was very knowable on the wildlife and was a part of the family by the end of our 7 day safari. In Tarangire were able to see the leopards very close up and that was quite a treat. The elephants on the plain were wonderful against the back drop of great mountains and Boabab trees. I would recommend visiting Tarangire to anyone traveling to Tanzania.
Bruce Finocchio
US
Visited:
January 2015
Reviewed: May 12, 2015
Email Bruce Finocchio | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tanrangire National Park is also a great place to visit, has much diversity, and here you can see elephant with reddish mud on them, for the soil is reddish in color. It’s known for its large elephant population. I also believe that because of the Tarangire River it’s very good in the dry season as well.
jules_1200r
Visited:
August 2014
Reviewed: May 8, 2015
just loved it - not enough time to really soak it all in though
Regina from Vancouver BC
CA
Visited:
November 2014
Reviewed: Apr 29, 2015
Email Regina from Vancouver BC | Experience level: first safari
This was the first park we saw and it was a wonderful start . The first elephants.....the beautiful trees and nature. A very lovely park.
Thomas Zumbiehl
FR
Visited:
March 2014
Reviewed: Apr 27, 2015
Email Thomas Zumbiehl | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
We have visited this park among several others during a honeymoon trip back in 1999. This was our first safari but we have been enjoying this so much that we still remember this as the best trip of our life and keep dreaming of getting back there.
This park has impressed us but its great outdoors, the large grassy meadows. We also saw cheetahs there.
rick harner photo
US
Visited:
February 2015
Reviewed: Apr 25, 2015
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Tarangire is known for it's numerous elephant populations and bird species diversity. The area also has a wide variety of mammal species most abundant include baboon, impala, waterbuck, giraffe, and warthog. Over 150 species of birds can be observed in a single day by even the novice birder. Lion, leopard and cheetah are present but may not be observed daily. A stay of 3 days is minimal. I rate this park excellent for wildlife photography.
Debbie McGee
CA
Visited:
May 2012
Reviewed: Apr 24, 2015
Email Debbie McGee | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Hard to pick, but Tarangire could be my favourite park.
We settled in. Maasai men escorted us through darkening paths to the dining tent, which was surrounded with bushes covered in what looked like blue petunias. We had our best meal yet. A scrumptious butternut squash soup, tender pork chops in a tasty
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brown sauce, with lightly cooked green beans, carrots, and potato slices. An apricot walnut crumble cake for dessert. And the dining tent is fun, beautifully set with Maasai necklaces forming the placemats. Because the kitchen is in a separate building, they use silver plate covers to transport dishes. Great service – and playful. The waiter counted us in - 1, 2, 3 - and we would simultaneously remove the plate cover to reveal the food underneath. There is also a comfortable couch and a library of African books. So glad to have two nights here.Tarangire National Park has a really nice entrance gate - well tended gardens, clean bathrooms, and a very tall wooden observation platform.
We begin the game drive. The weather is cool, and intermittently overcast. First off we see waterbucks. Then two different varieties of giraffe, a hilarious family of striped mongoose and two families of warthogs that let us take a good look at them before they trotted off - one had really big tusks. Then a family of dwarf yellow mongoose living in a termite mound. Speaking of which, termite mounds were everywhere, as were weaver nests, hanging from all the trees.
The Baobab trees are wonderful, looking very elvish to me. The grass long and green. Flowering bushes everywhere, covered in white petunia-like blossoms with delicate pink interiors. Little blue and yellow flowers by the side of the road, acacia trees, baobab trees, palm trees. The whole impression is of lushness and fertility.
We notice several vehicles gathered in the distance. Over we go. A female lion is wandering among the vehicles. Then we see the dead buffalo about 10 feet off the road. We notice some entrails and various organs about 5 feet from the road, and a big hole in the rear end of the buffalo. The female lion crosses the road and disappears into a thicket about 30 feet away.
A flock of African white-backed vultures arrive - why do they always pick the bare ugly trees? It’s like vulture central-casting. A Ranger Safaris' vehicle drives off the road, over to the thicket where the lioness had gone. A guide in another vehicle says there are more than 10 lions including a male in there. I was disgusted by the off-roading, but at least no one followed them.
The other vehicles leave and we settle in to wait. Thadei (our wonderful Safari Infinity guide) says the vultures will eventually go to the buffalo and that will draw the lions out. We back away from the carcass to give the vultures space. Sure enough, they start to circle! Eventually a couple of them land. We hear a loud grumble from the lion area, and look to see three females and a male emerge from the thicket. The vultures depart quickly.
The lions slowly make their way down to the carcass, with the male lion spraying copiously on his way. We notice a fourth lioness that must have been in the tall grass by the carcass all along. A female lion poops in the road and scrapes dirt over it like a cat. Then all five of them range themselves a yard or two from the carcass and just lie in the grass. Gerry says it’s a sentry system! One of the females returns to the clump - maybe there are cubs there.
One lioness nuzzles against another, purring. She then goes over to the male lion, licks him, rubs against him, then lies down and waves her tail enticingly. He licks her. She gets up, walks off and he follows. I hear a tourist say "they are going to get a room". But no, they just lie down a few feet from each other and start to doze, looking comfortable. We remain another 15 minutes or so, then decide to move on and check back later.
First thing we run into is a huge troop of baboons. There are many, many babies, including one that looks less than a week old. Some run along beside their moms, others ride on their backs, and still others cling to their mother's bellies. They are going to cross the river. It’s a wonderful sight - hundreds of baboons crossing the water, a few even walking on two feet. Some skirmishes, lots of squealing, shrieking and chucking sounds. The great baboon migration. Four reddish elephants in the background looking majestic.
We see a male ostrich with pink neck and legs - mating-ready apparently.
Lunch at the Matete lookout. The river is far below us. We watch a herd of elephants cross it as we eat. I am happy to see a green apple in my box. I put it and a bag of peanuts aside. Thadei leaves the table. Suddenly there is a thump and I look up to see a vervet monkey springing away, my green apple clenched firmly in his mouth. He lands on the fence across from me. Nick and I are in fits of laughter - nicely played, monkey!
The rest of the day is an easy pace. Just looking around. We see two battling waterbucks, a turquoise kingfisher, a hamercop stork, two monitor lizards swimming around, a saddle beak stork, a beautiful blue roller, flocks of teeny orange birds that look like flying poppies, a dik-dik, and a tawny eagle.
I love this park. The rolling hills, the trees, the river, the flowers. It's like a classic picture of Africa. Near the river, there are tall single stalks with one delicate purple blossom on top. The Tarangire River seemed to be drying up fast – it was flat and winding, but with a big expanse of sand on either side.
I want to watch some elephants for a while. This is not so easy. Two big ones cover themselves in mud, but they move away as soon as they are done. Thadei says the elephants here are wary of people, since they sometimes come into conflict with the agriculturalists outside the park. It's not surprising - even a single elephant could pretty much ruin a crop.
One elephant even looks like it might charge. We move on, find another group down the track, and watch some mothers and babies for a while. A little one rests its head on Mom's leg. Awww.
We decide to go back and see what's happening in lion land. To our utter delight, there are three small cubs tearing away at the organs on the ground, which are looking surprisingly fresh after a day in the sun. The kittens have a pretty hard time chewing - they don't seem to be able to get much of a mouthful.
The poor buffalo is looking emptier. There is another big hole near its neck. There are MANY flies. Only one female lion is nearby. We surmise the rest of them must be back in the bush fort.
Sure enough, slowly they emerge and come down to join the party. We count six juveniles, and three females. The cubs wander off to some nearby water, and are joined by the juveniles and one of the moms.
Three females start chewing on the buffalo. There is a small altercation. Two of them leave, and one remains tugging and scraping at the carcass. Clearly there is a hole in the side we can't see - she sticks her head inside and we can hear the chewing. Every time she pulls it out we see the blood on her face.
She tries to turn the carcass over by using its leg as a lever. It's too hard for her, and she looks around for help. Everyone is at the water. The male lion emerges from the thicket, and paces his way down to the lower field, spraying vigorously every few yards. He makes a wide circle, and then lies down near the crowd at the water.
The female lion is clearly going to succeed in turning the buffalo over. It seems we could stay there watching all night, because there is still a lot of buffalo to eat, and many lions to eat it. Not to mention the vultures. But the afternoon is getting on, and even though it is our last game drive, we want to have time for a shower and beer before supper and packing. Reluctantly we move off and go back to the lodge, stopping only briefly to check out a male and female buffalo weaver.
We return to camp around 5, happy to have a little time in our lovely tent before supper. We all shower, and sit on the porch with a beer, chatting and looking at photos.
Supper tonight is cream of pumpkin soup, Tilapia, and crème caramel. Not as delicious as the night before, but still good. Thadei drops in just as we are leaving. We arrange to leave at 8 am the next day. Can't believe the safari is ending!