Enjoy exploring the depths of Tarangire National Park and the surrounding wilderness areas.  You can go on game drives in Tarangire, and also guided walks and rare night game drives in the surrounding areas. 

Location & size:

Tarangire National Park is situated to the east of the Rift Valley escarpment in Northern Tanzania and covers an area of 2,600km².

Landscapes & vegetation:

Tarangire National Park falls outside the nutrient-rich volcanic belt and receives a relatively low annual rainfall.  Tarangire is therefore a semi-arid park with habitats that are unique in the region.  Much of Tarangire National Park is dominated by baobabs and acacia trees, making for excellent wildlife viewing. 

Mammals:

The Tarangire River running through Tarangire National Park and attracts large congregations of elephant, buffalo, wildebeest, eland, fringe-eared oryx and gazelle, which in turn attract predatory lions.  The rare and endangered African Wild Dog also inhabits the area, and you may catch a glimpse of these if you are lucky. 

On your night game drive, you have a chance to see nocturnal animals such as leopard, civet, genet and white-tailed mongoose.

Birds:

Tarangire National Park is also a bird lovers’ paradise, with about 450 species occurring here, including 49 of Tanzania’s 60 raptor species.  Tarangire is also seasonal home to a large number of Eurasian migrating birds.  Some of the species you will see in and around Tarangire include secretary birds, large and powerful martial eagles, striking long-crested eagle, large lappet-faced vultures, red & yellow-necked spurfowl and the endemic yellow-collared lovebirds. 

Birding - more info

Reptiles:

Beautiful Southern African rock pythons are often seen resting in acacia trees in the Tarangire National Park’s swampy areas.  Other reptiles include dragons such as the Red-headed rock agama which can be seen sunning themselves on rocks and head-bobbing at each other and passing visitors.  Puff adders and both Speke's Hinged tortoises & the endemic pancake tortoises can also be found in Tarangire.

Herping in Tarangire - more info

Visit Tarangire National Park on our Tanzania Safaris: