2850 km²
Size
16-32°C
Temperature
800-1,500 m
Altitude
Dry savanna, marked dry season June-October
Climate
Tarangire is the park Arusha guests reach before lunch: baobabs, a river that still holds water when the rest of the Maasai Steppe has gone to dust, and elephant herds that make first-time safari people go quiet.
In the dry months the Tarangire River is a magnet. Elephant come down in numbers you do not get in Lake Manyara. Python, lion and the odd leopard use the riverine woodland. The baobabs are not decoration; they are the skyline. Silale Swamp in the south holds buffalo and birdlife if you have the time to leave the main circuit.
It is 2,850 square kilometres, which surprises people who treat it as a half-day add-on. You can rush the river drive and be back at the gate by 2 p.m., or you can stay inside, take a walking safari from a camp that is licensed for it, and hear the night. Boundary camps outside the gate often offer night drives, which TANAPA does not allow on the public roads inside.
Green season (March to May) is underrated if you like birds and hate crowds. Wildlife spreads toward the Simanjiro plains and you work harder for elephant. We still use Tarangire then when the rest of the northern circuit is sodden.
Almost every short safari we write starts here. The 3-Day Tarangire, Manyara and Ngorongoro is the midweek trip from Arusha. Stretch it with Serengeti nights on the 4-Day Northern Circuit if you can steal one extra day from the beach or the mountain.
Things to See & Do
Getting There
Road
From Arusha it is about 120 km and two hours to the main gate on tarmac then a short park road. Kuro airstrip is inside...
Flight
Light aircraft to Kuro for southern and remote camps. Most of our standard lodges are a road transfer from Arusha or Man...
Wildlife you can see here
All 40 speciesBig cats
African Lion
Panthera leo
The largest social cat, living in prides and ruling the Serengeti plains.
Serengeti, Ngorongoro Conservation Area +7 more
Elephants
African Elephant
Loxodonta africana
The largest land animal on Earth, living in family herds led by a matriarch.
Tarangire, Nyerere +7 more
Bovids
African Buffalo
Syncerus caffer
A heavy, dangerous grazer that lives in herds of hundreds.
Serengeti, Ngorongoro Conservation Area +7 more
Ungulates
Masai Giraffe
Giraffa tippelskirchi
The tallest animal on Earth, and Tanzania's national animal.
Serengeti, Tarangire +7 more
Ungulates
Plains Zebra
Equus quagga
A striped grazer that leads the Great Migration alongside wildebeest.
Serengeti, Ngorongoro Conservation Area +6 more
Antelopes
Impala
Aepyceros melampus
A graceful antelope, common in herds, known for high jumps.
Serengeti, Tarangire +5 more
Antelopes
Gerenuk
Litocranius walleri
A long-necked antelope that stands on its hind legs to browse.
Tarangire, Lake Natron
Antelopes
Waterbuck
Kobus ellipsiprymnus
A shaggy antelope with a white ring on its rump, never far from water.
Tarangire, Lake Manyara +3 more
Best Time to Visit
FAQs
Is Tarangire only about elephants?
Elephants steal the morning, especially July to October. You also get large baobab country, good lion density along the river, and over 500 bird species. It is not a cheetah park in the way Ndutu can be.
Day trip or overnight?
A day trip from Arusha works. An overnight is better. You catch the last two hours of light and you are at the river before the day-trip convoy from town.
Can we do a night drive?
Inside the national park, no. From certain camps just outside the boundary, yes, with the camp's vehicle and rules.
Is it dusty?
In September and October the river road is talcum. Bring a buff or a scarf. We keep the windows up on the worst stretches and pop the roof when we stop.
Safaris Visiting Tarangire National Park
Add Arusha National Park to Your Safari
The route is ours to design — you just pick the places that call you.
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