Tarangire National Park

Nice start to a tremendous holiday

Famous for its tree-climbing lions, I only saw them on the ground. This is where I saw my first-ever leopard which was quite a thrill! Accommodations and food at Tarangire Sopa Lodge was great. Lodge was

Elephants and baobabs galore - there was something to see every minute we were out on the road.

Wildlife - to see herds and herds of elephants - and a mix of sizes within each herd - is truly magnificent. Tarangire is the place to see elephants, especially after calving season. We went in December and had two game drives - one in the late afternoon and one in the early morning. The early morning one was better as the elephants were all seeking shade in the afternoon sun and so did not venture near the roads. (Cars are not allowed to leave the roads). There were many highlights but one was something you don't even think of looking for: two dung beetles rolling their ball of dung. Another was a dancing crane. Maybe it wasn't dancing but it was moving so gracefully and elegantly it was like a dance.
Parts of the park were flooded after the heavy rains of November and early December but the accessible areas were very varied in terrain and scenery. It is not a very big park and you can see parts that will already feel familiar on your second drive.
We stayed at the Tarangire Lodge within the National Park - it is a simple but beautiful lodge with a huge outdoor seating area overlooking the river. It is on a hill and so you can see for miles around. Come equipped with binoculars of course. Good food even for vegetarians. This lodge is not as big as some so there was a cosy feeling in the dining room.
Our trip had been organised through Shah Tours in Moshi as we did a package for Kilimanjaro, Tarangire and Ngorongoro. The safari car was quite good with the open roof but these seem to be standard with most companies that provide such game drives. The guide could have been better but again there are so many local national park guides that are well informed. The drive from Moshi via Arusha to Tarangire was remarkable too - you see so many Masai dressed in the most colourful cloth and little children splashing about in the water.

Great Introduction to Wildlife in Tanzania

Tarangire was our first Safari of the week and was a great introduction of things to come. Visting at the end of May and just after the wet season the grass was long and lush so a little difficult to see the smaller animals. We almost immediately came across a family of baboons who were very active and climbing up and down "their" tree. Later we saw our first elephants but from a distance which was still great to see. Further on we met a lone elephant who got very close to our vehicle but was not aggressive in any way. We didn't see any big cats on this day visit but plenty of bird life to include superb starlins, hornbill, hammerkopf and love birds. Also plentiful were the majestic giraffe. Views from the small picnic site were beautiful overlooking the river, where we later saw a family of elephants drinking

Paradise of the elephants

Facilement accessible par une très bonne route depuis Arusha,le parc national du Tarangire est surtout intéressant pour ses éléphants en matière de faune. Mais c’est bien ses paysages qui m’ont le plus touché. Notamment la rivière Tarangire presque a sec au mois d’aout laissant un sillage impressionnant au sol dominé par ses immenses berges .Il faut prendre la peine même si la piste n’ai pas toujours facile de descendre jusqu’au Silale au sud du parc immense marécage ou les éléphants se distinguent à peine dans les hautes herbes.

Excellent place for elephants and ungulates, the great Baobob trees which are common here provide a great experience. Stunning in fact.

We enjoyed all the wildlife and scenery of this park. It's also not as busy with tourists in jeeps. Animals are comfortable being close so it's great for watching their behavior and photographing.

Our first visit was to Tarangire. We were really impressed by the park, as our first safari experience. By comparison, I feel the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater are a step up. Nonetheless, Taragire was still an amazing place to visit. Lots of zebras and elephants. Out of the three we visited, it seemed to me that there were more various types of birds as compared to the Serentgeti and Ngorongoro.

Decent wildlife experience

Incredible Density of Elephants

We were blown away by the number of elephants we saw during our trip to Tarangire National Park. We sat by a mud hole at one point and saw four different groups of elephants with 20-30 elephants per group come through and take a mud bath. In total we saw at least 200 elephants in just a few hours at the park. There are also many great baobab trees to admire. The variety of animals is fairly low and we didn't see much density outside of the elephants. We saw a few giraffe, zebra, and buffalo. The one word of caution I would give is to avoid East African Safari Touring Company (EASTCO). Our guide was rude, unprofessional, unsafe, and had terrible communication. The owner, Simon, was completely unhelpful when we brought complaints to him. But I'm sure there are many much better companies that can help you explore this beautiful park.