Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is one of the famous national parks in the northern circuit of Tanzania and it is located on the main safari route. Tarangire is located in a lovely, tranquil and quiet area in the famous northern circuit. The park is famous for the great migration of elephants, unique birding experience, and the most natural safari environment. Being quiet and in a silent area, this national park tends to be missed by the travelers, and those who choose to pass by, stay for a few hours thus missing out on the bluster of natural endowment in the area.
The park is a bigger national park compared to its neighbor, Lake Manyara national park, this fact makes Tarangire park to give the visitors quality and quiet time for game viewing. The southern part of tarangire is the most silent dashes with awesome accommodation like Swala and Oliver’s camp. The lodges in the southern part of the park offer the best quality time for a silent getaway into exploring the nature of this wild place.
Tarangire is bounded by Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater in the north, and the proximity to Serengeti is the reason as to why the park concentrates with quite a number of wild animals in the peak months of the tourism season. July is a month for an amazing game viewing and it carries on through October, which is, also the dry season and the best season to visit Tarangire.
Wildlife of Tarangire National Park
The Park is a good place for game viewing due to the concentration of wildlife it hosts. During the dry season, a lot of animals in Tarangire gather around the Tarangire River which is the main water source in the national park. The elephants are the highlight of Tarangire game safaris. The park has quite a higher population of the African elephants counting to over 3000. Also in the peak safari season, you can see a lot of zebras and wildebeests since it happens to be the season for the migration of the wildebeests in Serengeti national park, you can also see a lot of buffaloes, gazelles, the great and lesser kudu, eland, leopard, and cheetahs among other animals. The dwarf mongooses, oryx, and generuk are the rarest animals in the park however, you can get a chance to see them during one of the game drives.
What to do in Tarangire National Park
Game viewing is one of the things you can enjoy doing in Tarangire, it is also the most common activity about the park. Game viewing in Tarangire national park offers a golden chance for you to explore the wild community in the area like the largest herds of elephants, giraffes, fringe eared oryx kudus, gazelles, hartebeests, tree climbing pythons, African wild dogs, zebras et cetera. The best season for game viewing or game drives in tarangire national park is from June to November since it is a dry season the animals tend to gather up around the main water source.
Birding is also marvelous in tarangire national park; this is so because the park is greatly blessed with various bird species. The bird watching experience of tarangire is all the birder’s interest. The park has over 450 species of birds for example the yellow collared lovers birds, bateleurs eagles, lappet faced vulture, brown parrots, horn bills, kori bustards, plovers, among others. tarangire national park is a home for woodland birds, swamp birds and water birds.
Cultural visits in tarangire are conducted with in the Maasai local community. Visiting the Maasai people offers a chance to learn about the nomadic pastoralists and their way of living. You can learn a lot about their way of living like dressing among others. The other activities you can enjoy in tarangire national park include natural guided nature walks, sight-seeing among others.
The best time to visit
The dry season is always the best season for visiting almost all of the national parks in Uganda. Tarangire park activities are best done in July to October before the migration of animals out of the year commences. The rest of the year is also okay to visit tarangire national park, but remember there will be almost no animals to view. But you can do other activities, plus also relax in a free wild.
Accommodation in Tarangire
There is a list of accommodation options in Tarangire and outside its premises. However, the accommodation facilities within the national park are recommendable for your Tarangire safaris. The budget accommodation in tarangire national park includes kichuugu tented camp which is an ecofriendly lodge operated using the sun energy, or the solar energy. While at kichuugu tented camp, you can enjoy the tranquility if the place and the view of the lush vegetation in tarangire national park and a few animals that cross around.
Maramboi tented camp is located near manyara, even though not found in Tarangire, but it is about a 10min drive from the park. maramboi tented camp is the best places to stay for game drives in tarangire national park and also lake manyara national park. maramboi offers a relaxing accommodation in spacious rooms built with en-suite bathrooms and private terraces plus an enormous swimming area. The other budget accommodation in Tarangire include, whistling thorn tented camp which offers no frills accommodation in an exceptional location.
The medium range accommodation in Tarangire include sangaiwe tented camp which if situated on a hill within the outskirts of tarangire national park offering accommodation in 16 tented rooms. The rooms are constructed atop a flat platform with private decks which provide a relaxing time after the days trip. The rooms are designed with en-suite bathrooms, comfortable beds, and view of the animals in tarangire national park.
Tarangire osupuko lodge is another under the midrange accommodations. The lodge offers friendly accommodation at prices really affordable. The lodge is owned by the local citizens of Tanzania; however, the lodge is kissed with the western hospitality standards. The rooms are spacious with wide windows to enable you have a good view of the surrounding natural features like vegetation and animals that tend to roam around like elephants.
The luxury accommodation in Tarangire include nimali tarangire lodge, form the name of the lodge, nimali means wealth in Swahili, and you can tell the status of the lodge. Nimali is located outside tarangire national park and offers unlimited safari activities like night game drives and walking safaris around the area; these activities are forbidden for lodges inside the national park. nimali offers six luxury tented rooms with personal services and a deck to watch the evening sun set and a number of animals.
Sanctuary swala camp is a sanctuary indeed and from the name of the lodge its self, you can imagine the beauty and luxury beats of the camp. Sanctuary swala camp is located in some of the corners of the park, it offers accommodation in about 12 tented rooms designed with king sized beds plus inside and outdoor showers to allow you have a shower under a starry night in the wilderness. Other lodges in and around tarangire include, Tarangire treetops which is constructed around a gigantic old baobad tree, maweninga camps located near the famous kopje natural rocks, it offers accommodation in luxury cottages with a tree top restaurant.
Accommodation to Tarangire can never be a problem because the park is spotted with quite a number of accommodation facilities in different categories to allow you to have a comfortable African safari. You can always let your safari operator to book for you your lodge to avoid inconveniences.
