Tarangire National Park

Back to Tanzania

Tarangire is the northern circuit’s best-kept secret — a landscape of ancient baobabs and golden swamps along the Tarangire River, famous for elephant herds that can number three hundred strong and for a dry-season wildlife gathering second only to the Serengeti itself.

Highlights

Elephants are the headline act: Tarangire holds the largest concentrations in northern Tanzania, digging for water in the dry riverbed and dusting themselves red beneath thousand-year-old baobabs. The park is also one of the best places in Africa for tree-climbing pythons, fringe-eared oryx and more than 550 recorded bird species — the most of any Tanzanian park.

Best Time to Visit

Tarangire is emphatically a dry-season park. From June to October the river is the only water for miles and wildlife pours in from the surrounding ecosystem; in the green months the herds disperse, though the birding stays world-class and the light is glorious.

Where to Stay

We favour the intimate camps in the quiet south of the park and the private conservancies on its borders, where night drives and walking safaris — forbidden inside the park — come into play. Tell us your style and we will match the camp.

Tarangire slots beautifully into the start of any northern itinerary — browse our Tanzania safaris or ask us to add two nights here.