Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park was our first stop in Tanzania (after stopping in Arusha for a meal). It had a wide variety of wildlife, from very large numbers of elephants to lions, giraffes, zebras and a wide variety of birds. It was a very nice park for game drives, and I would highly recommend including it in a safari tour if time allows.

Decent wildlife experience

Incredible Density of Elephants

We were blown away by the number of elephants we saw during our trip to Tarangire National Park. We sat by a mud hole at one point and saw four different groups of elephants with 20-30 elephants per group come through and take a mud bath. In total we saw at least 200 elephants in just a few hours at the park. There are also many great baobab trees to admire. The variety of animals is fairly low and we didn't see much density outside of the elephants. We saw a few giraffe, zebra, and buffalo. The one word of caution I would give is to avoid East African Safari Touring Company (EASTCO). Our guide was rude, unprofessional, unsafe, and had terrible communication. The owner, Simon, was completely unhelpful when we brought complaints to him. But I'm sure there are many much better companies that can help you explore this beautiful park.

A beautiful park with large herds of elephants.

Tarangire was the best park we visited. The landscape was densely varied, offering a great variety of habitats in a relatively small setting, with every kind of animal we could dream of (except cheetahs, but it was late May, when they are harder to find.) Highly recommended.

Elephants everywhere and a true magical kingdom

My first visit to Africa was filled with anticipation and excitement and all I knew to expect was what I had read online and in books. But nothing can prepare you for what you really experience and how each day is filled with wonder and awe at seeing animals roam as nature intended. I know most people have a long checklist of animals they want to see and seeing the Big Five are how some people measure a successful trip to Africa. Looking back on my trip now to Tarangire, I have to measure my trip by the number of magical moments. As the dust kicks up as the guide speeds down the road, you start to see the ancient Baobab trees come into view. The trees are so big and they watch over the landscape like giants in the hot sun. With the ability to store a large amount of water, many of these trees will have hollowed out trunks, the results of direct contact with elephants and their search for water. My excitement for going to Africa was to see Elephants in the wild and I was not disappointed, especially in Tarangire. After awhile you see so many that they become almost common place, even showing up at hotels to roam the grounds. Our Guide, Gabriel from Maasai Magic Safaris was so knowledgable about animal behavior and obviously loves what he does. He was very patient for this photographer to get the shots I needed and made sure that my trip met all my expectations.

The home of the elephant. The scenic views of Tarangire with its rocky foundation, baobab trees, and valleys provide an amazing backdrop to the wildlife. You will see many elephants at Tarangire guaranteed. A must stop on your Tanzania safari. I would recommend 2 days minimum to explore the park.

A beautiful park with lots of elephants. It seemed a little busier than other parks we visited but we saw a lot and very close up!

My Favorite park in Tanzania

This park has a great scenery, and wonderful wildlife. I would have enjoyed spending more time in this park over a few others we visited. Our group also visited Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and Ngoro Ngoro Crater and thought Tarangire was our favorite. The accommodations were very nice, and our guide Alfred was the gem of our trip. He was very knowable on the wildlife and was a part of the family by the end of our 7 day safari. In Tarangire were able to see the leopards very close up and that was quite a treat. The elephants on the plain were wonderful against the back drop of great mountains and Boabab trees. I would recommend visiting Tarangire to anyone traveling to Tanzania.

When we were there, the flies were worse than anywhere else on the Safari. We have lots of bugs back home in Canada, but because we had not experienced this before, it threw us off a bit. Otherwise, it was a beautiful place to see wildlife, especially the elephants.