The place of the baobab trees

At a glance

Area: 2,600 sq kms

Location: The park is 114km from Arusha.

Altitude: 1,100 1,500m above sea level.

Vegetation: Tarangire has 9 different vegetation zones on and around the Tarangire River, Baobabs are the dominant tree.

Fauna: Plains game is abundant in the dry season. Mammals include lion, leopard, cheetach, elephat, zebra, lesser kudu, eland, and buffalo.

Birds: The park offers more than 450 species of birds. 

Overview

Named after the Tarangire River, which provides its only water, this is an essentially arid park characterized by its many ancient baobab trees and large termite mounds. 

Only 30km from the Rift Valley escarpment, its annual rainfall is very low (550mm) and as a result its vegetation is dominated by acacias and doum palms.

Large herds of elephant

Tarangire is famous for its large herds of elephants (there are over 3,000 elephant in the park), also for its large numbers of lions (which can often be seen digging for water in the dry riverbeds), leopards, African buffalos, and lesser and great kudus. 

Unique bird-watching

Tarangire is also world-renowned for its birds, boasting some 450 recorded species. Of the 60 raptor species that occur in Tanzania, 49 occur in Tarangire. What is more, the park’s open habitat (especially in the northern sector), dotted with leafless trees makes for ideal bird-watching conditions (Tarangire Safari Lodge, which sits high on a bluff above the river is considered one of the finest ornithological haunts in the whole of Africa). The park also boasts the highest recorded number of breeding species for any habitat in the world. One of the most interesting species is the ground hornbill whose call sounds like beating drums. A Maasai folk tale maintains that the sound mimics the voice of a man speaking to woman saying ‘I want more cows’ to which she replies, ‘You’ll die before you get them’. 

Dry season park

Second only to the Ngorongoro Crater as a dry-season (June-July) sanctuary for vast herds of migratory creatures, the park’s wildlife tend to follow clearly defined seasonal patterns. First to move north-east, often as far as Lake Natron, are the zebras and wildebeests, which begin their trek in October. After them, trek the gazelles buffaloes, elands, oryxes and hartebeests. Finally, the elephants move out. The Defassa waterbucks, impalas, giraffes, lesser kudus, Kirk’s dik and warthogs, meanwhile, remain resident. The return of the park’s migratory species begins in June and July; firstly with the oryxes and elands, then the elephants; and finally, the zebras and wildbeest. By August all the animals have returned and, because the migration path for many is through the Simanjiro area, this makes an ideal viewing spot. Night drives also allow for the spotting of leopards, springhares, gents, civets, white-tailed mongooses and ratels. 

When to go and what to see

The greatest concentrations of animals are seen between June and November and, generally, Tarangire is the best place to come in the dry season (July to October), especially to see large numbers of ungulates (at this time, many ungulates in the more famous Serengeti have migrated north to Kenya). Most visitors concentrate their activity in the northern sector and around the Tarangire Rivers. The Lemiyon region beyond the park’s north-east boundary offers great photo opportunities. Hunting dogs roam throughout the Masai Steppes but are most likely seen in the eastern side of the park. Silale Swamp is famous both for its water birds and the vast pythons which can often be seen hanging in the trees. 

The story of the baobab

The Maasai believe that the baobab was the first tree to be created at the dawn of the Earth. Proud and vain, the tree became restless and started to wander about the Earth boasting of its superiority. Eventually God grew tired of its behavior and resolved to teach it a lesson. Plucking it from the ground, He hurled it across the plains, where it landed upside down with its naked roots waving in the air. Now its thick branches provide nesting sites for barn owls, while the hollow trunks offer sanctuary to the region’s ten species of bat, some of which help in pollinating the tree’s flowers.