Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National park is popularly known as the place where the great elephant migration happens in all the Safari parks for Africa. The park lays in the safari route of Serengeti National Park, Lake Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro conservancy.
It’s located in the northern circuit of Tanzania and derives its name from the Tarangire River which runs through the park and provides drinking areas for wildlife throughout the year. This attract massive herds of animals which makes it the best place to view the large mammals like elephants and buffaloes. The park lays between the Masai Steppe and the Great Rift valley and covers an area of 2850 square kilometers. Tarangire National Park is a dominate stopover for all safaris to Ngorongoro and Serengeti with uncontrolled game allowed to move around freely throughout the year.
Attractions in Tarangire National Park
Wildlife
Tarangire National Park is endowed with thousands of elephants and buffaloes making it the best place to view them.
The greener plains in Tarangire attract thousands of Wildebeest that migrate to the park whenever faced with a dry spell. Examples of other wildlife to see in thousands are blue wildebeest, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, impala, hartebeest and kudu. Also, predators visit the area regularly to drink from river Tarangire and hunt like crocodiles, lions, cheetah, hyena, wildcats and wild dog. On top of that is a variety of other wildlife like, Leopards and Buffaloes. Other animals like giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, zebras, antelopes, different types of monkeys and so much more.
Bird Life
Tarangire National Park is an amazing bird watching site with 500 recorded bird species. The park also boosts of the several types of dryer country birds like the Vulturine guinea fowl and northern pied babbler. Other unique birds to this area are the yellow collared love bird and dabber rufous tailed weaver.
Examples of bird species like Tawny Eagle, Red & Yellow Barbet, Red Bellied Parrot, Ashy Starling, African Grey Flycatcher, Ostrich, Pink Breasted Lark, Northern White Crowned Shrike, Great White Pelican and Donaldson Smith’s Nightjar.
Tarangire river
The river is a drinking area for all the animals in the park throughout the year. The river side is associated with a number of swamps and green plains that attract many wildlife habitats. This has attracted thousands of wildebeests and other wildlife species surrounding the park during the dry spell in near by parks like Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire National Park.
Activities
Game Drives
The game drives are divided into two that is the day and night drives. They start early in the morning at 06:00am and afternoon session at 1:00 pm as well as the night game drives in search for nocturnal at 6:30pm- 11pm with the view of the sunset. They are conducted in open roof top vehicles of 4×4 and open sided vehicles to enable you take great pictures during your safari. You will see animals ranging from African hunting Dog, Spotted Hyenas, Bat Eared Fox, large herds of antelopes, Zebras, Thompson’s giant gazelles and the rare tree climbing lions. Other animals like bush babies, civets, Aardvarks, leopards, dik diks, bat eared fox, scrub hare, jackals and mongoose.
Night game drives are always booked in advance since you should be assigned a ranger and you will be required to pay an extra fee which ranges from $50- $100 for a trip. During the night game drives, be rest assured to sights of White-Tailed Mongoose, Lions, Hippos Gazing, Greater & Senegal Galago, Common Genet, Civet, Crested Porcupine, Birds Like Owls, Nightjars and Dikkops
Bird Watching
Tarangire National Park is known for its beautiful ecosystem that attracts a variety of bird species. The park offers huge numbers of birds with over 500 species which are sighted along the forests as well as riverine areas of the park. The park also boosts of the several types of dryer country birds like the Vulturine guinea fowl and northern pied babbler. The best months for bird watching is during November to July although you can see them thorough tout the year
Nature Walks
Tarangire National Park offers you a chance to move out of your vehicle and stretch your legs for either a short or long walk during your safari. These walks are conducted by the park rangers either inside or outside the park during day time. Thewalks inside the park will aim at tracking and getting closer to animals as your guide takes you through the different animal behaviours.
The walk outside the park will include the community cultural experience like Maasai walking tours with your guide where you get to visit the Masai warrior’s way of life.
Balloon Safaris
The hot air balloon safari in Tarangire offers you great views of the park high above like a bird is the most thrilling adventure of a life time.
The balloon safari starts early in the morning at 06:30 to 09:30 am and it’s a one-hour ride with bush breakfast offered during the activity. Take off of the hot air balloon feels like an airplane so you will feel a little Jedi.
Where to stay in the Park
There are a number of places to stay while on you Tarangire National Park \ trip which ranges from Budget, Midrange to Luxury accommodation. Budget accommodation ranges from $30-$150, Midrange from $200- $250 and Luxury from $300-$1000.
Luxury
- Elewana Tarangire Tree Tops
- Ecoscience Center &Luxury Lodge
- Angata Tarangire
- Kichuguu Camp
- Acacia Tarangire Luxury
Midrange
- Baobab Tented Camp
- Roika Tarangire Tented Lodge
- Tarangire Simba Lodge
- Boundary Hill Lodge
Budget
- Asmorein Hotel
- Africa Safari Camping
For your planning purposes you can visit the park for a 2 day or multiple days depending on your budget.
How to get to the park
You can reach Tarangire National Park through Arusha town and it takes approximately 2 hours and below are the different transportation ways;
By Road
This is the most common type of transportation to the park and it will take you approximately 2 hours from Arusha town or Tarangire National Park as you get to do more of sightseeing. The roads are in good condition but as you get closer to the Game Reserve, the roads are Marram and you may experience the African Massage.
By Air
The air transportation is scheduled or chartered from either Serengeti or Arusha and below are the companies that operated the Lake Tarangire National Park route;
- Coastal Aviation flies to Tarangire N.P
- Air Tanzania flies to Kilimanjaro
- Zan Air flies to Arusha
- Precision Air flies to Arusha and Kilimanjaro
