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Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park is one of the best national parks in Tanzania located in the world of Masai Steppe to the southeast and the lakes of the Great Rift Valley to the north and west. The park occupies an area of 2,600 sq. km and is known to have a vast variety of wildlife species with amazing accommodation facilities for tourists to rest in when they are on a Tanzania Safari tour.

Tarangire national park is found in Tanzania and is one of the national parks in the northern Tanzania circuit. Located a short drive from Arusha, this destination is also found close to other wildlife viewing destinations such as Lake Manyara National Park. The name Tarangire after which the national park is called comes from the Tarangire river which crosses through the park. Different wildlife species drink from the river which is a primary source of water for the animals especially during the dry season.

Located

Slightly off the popular northern Tanzania Safari Circuit, the park lies between the meadows of Masai Steppe to the southeast and the lakes of the Great Rift Valley to the north and west. Within the northern part of Tarangire is the permanent River Tarangire also known as the life-line of the park particularly in the dry season when most of the region is totally dry. This flows northwards until it exits the park in the northwestern corner to pour into Lake Burungi. There are a number of wide swamps which dry into green plains during the dry season in the south.

During your Safari in Tarangire, you are highly recommended to stay for a couple of days especially in the south of the park which offers a less crowded safari experience and gives you the opportunity to enjoy an authentic African feel of Tanzania's countryside.

Tarangire Vegetation

The permanent Tarangire River is the most dominant feature here and it’s after this river that the park was named. There are a number of large swamps that feed off some of its tributaries; however, these are usually dry for most of the year but get very impassable during the rains. The Tarangire park is usually very dry, in fact drier than the Serengeti, however its vegetation is much more green especially with lots of elephant grass, vast areas with mixed acacia woodlands and some of the wonderful ribbons of the aquatic forest not to forget the giant baobab tree that can live up to 600 years storing between 300 and 900 liters of water.

Tarangire Wildlife Migration

Every year during the dry season from June to November, Tarangire hosts a wildlife migration which is not as dramatic as the Wildebeest Migration in the Serengeti, but receives a somewhat large number of animals. As most of this part of the country is dry, the Tarangire River remains the only source of water and consequently attracts large numbers of wildebeests, elephants, gazelles, zebras, hartebeests, buffaloes, plus various predators like lions that come to drink and graze around the river banks. During the rain months of November to May, the zebras as well as large herds of wildebeests move into the northwest direction towards the Rift Valley floor amongst the large numbers of animals that spread across the large open areas of the Masai Steppe and dispersing all the way to Lake Manyara.

Wildlife in Tarangire National Park

Because Tarangire is mainly a seasonal national park, its wildlife differs depending on the season and also considering that it is part of a bigger ecosystem.