Tarangire
National Park is the most southern
of the accessible parks of northern
Tanzania. Named after River Tarangire,
the park covers an area of 2,600
sq.km. Much of the park is open
grassy savannah, dotted with splendid
specimens of Baobab trees, but there
are also areas of swamp in the south.
It is one of the few protected areas in Tanzania with a hydrological regime that ensures a year round water source for the park's most exceptional resource, the Tarangire
River. During the best game watching months, much of the park wildlife is concentrated in the vicinity of the Tarangire River. The Park has the greatest concentration of wildlife
outside the Serengeti ecosystem. Among other species to be seen at Tarangire are buffalo, herds of up to 300 elephant, lion, warthog, eland, the fringe eared oryx, lesser and greater kudu, gerenuk and large numbers of impala. The park is also famous for tree climbing pythons and abundant birdlife.
The area in the most northerly part of the Park within the triangle formed by the eastern and western boundaries and the Tarangire River as it flows westwards towards Lake Burungi is called Lemiyon.
The most striking feature of this part of the Park is the majestic, old baobab trees. With their massive silvery trunks, spindly branches and gourd-like fruit, they are strange and impressive trees. As many baobab trees are hollow, they frequently serve as reservoirs for rainwater, as the site of wild beehives or as nesting trees for hornbills.
Wildebeest and zebras are common here, as they are in many other parts of the Park. Both species need to drink regularly so unless there are pools of surface water, they do not go far from the river. Throughout Tarangire you will see ecological processes at work. Grasses, shrubs and trees grow fueled by energy form the sun. Herbivores, like gazelles, zebras and buffalo's, eat these plants. In turn they are hunted and eaten by the carnivores, the hyenas, lion, and leopards, which are at the top of this food chain. The Kongoni or Coke's hartebeest is often seen here and throughout the Park. Elephants may be seen at the river during the dry season, as in many other parts of the Park.
