Northern Tanzania
Tarangire National Park
Baobab country with a river through it — the elephant park of the northern circuit, and the one most itineraries give too little time to.
What it is
Tarangire National Park in plain terms
Tarangire sits south-east of the Serengeti and is usually the first park on a northern circuit, largely because of where it is on the road from Arusha. That has given it a reputation as a warm-up, which does it a disservice.
The park is built around the Tarangire River, and in the dry months that river is one of the few reliable water sources in a very large area. Animals come to it. That is the whole story of the park, and it is why Tarangire in the right season holds elephant concentrations that rival anywhere in East Africa.
It is also the most visually distinctive park in the north: baobabs, which barely appear in the Serengeti, are everywhere here, and they change what the country looks like completely.
Why come here
What Tarangire does that nowhere else does
- Elephants, in numbers and in families
- Tarangire is known for large breeding herds rather than scattered individuals, and in the dry season they concentrate along the river in a way that is genuinely difficult to overstate.
- Baobabs
- The park is full of them, and they are what makes a Tarangire photograph unmistakable. They are also enormous, ancient and much stranger up close than in pictures.
- Birdlife that rewards slowing down
- The mix of river, swamp and dry woodland gives Tarangire one of the more varied bird lists in the north, which matters more here than the checklist of large mammals.
- Fewer vehicles than the crater
- It is a busy park by any normal standard and a quiet one by comparison with Ngorongoro. Away from the main circuit near the entrance, it empties out quickly.
When to go
The river makes Tarangire a dry-season park
In the dry months, water elsewhere disappears and animals move to the river. This is when the elephant concentrations happen and when Tarangire is at its most spectacular — for many people it is the best game viewing of a northern circuit, which surprises them.
In the green months, water is everywhere, so animals disperse across the park and beyond it. The country is beautiful, the birding is at its peak with migrants in, and the game is harder to find. Neither version is wrong; they are different parks.
This seasonality is sharper here than at Ngorongoro and sharper than in much of the Serengeti, so it is worth deciding deliberately rather than by default.
See what each month gives you across Tanzania →Wildlife
What you are likely to see
- Elephant, in large breeding herds when the river is drawing them in
- Lion, including prides that use the riverine woodland
- Buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, impala and giraffe throughout
- Fringe-eared oryx and lesser kudu, which are far less common further north
- Leopard in the riverine cover, with patience
- A long bird list, at its best in the green months
Likely, never promised. These are wild animals in very large areas, and an operator who guarantees a species is guaranteeing something that is not theirs to give.
How long
Two nights, not one
Most itineraries give Tarangire a single night on the way through, which means one afternoon drive and one morning drive, half of which is spent near the busy entrance area. Two nights lets you get further in, where the park changes character, and it costs you very little in the shape of a northern circuit. If elephants are the reason you are coming to Tanzania, give it three.
Getting here
- Overland from Arusha — the shortest road transfer of the northern circuit, which is why it opens most routes
- By air to the park’s airstrip, where the days are tight or a fly-in journey is being built
- Onward to the Ngorongoro highlands and the Serengeti, which is the standard northern circuit order
Be honest with yourself
Who Tarangire suits badly
- Travellers coming in the green months specifically for big elephant concentrations — that is a dry-season event
- Anyone who wants the open-plains look; this is woodland, baobab and river country
- A one-night stop that will then be judged against the Serengeti
Journeys that go here
How we build Tarangire into a trip
Common questions
Tarangire, answered plainly
- Is Tarangire worth visiting?
- In the dry months, very much so — the elephant concentrations along the river are among the best wildlife experiences in northern Tanzania. In the green months it is a beautiful, quieter park with harder game viewing and superb birding.
- How many days should I spend in Tarangire?
- Two nights rather than the single night most itineraries give it. One night means two short drives near the entrance; two lets you reach the parts of the park that are worth the journey.
- What is Tarangire best known for?
- Elephants and baobabs. The river concentrates the first and the landscape is full of the second, which together make it look and feel unlike the Serengeti.