The fierce sun sucks the moisture from the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red, the withered grass
as brittle as straw. The Tarangire River has shrivelled to a shadow of its wet season self. But it is
choked with wildlife. Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometres knowing that here,
always, there is water.
Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while migratory
wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It's the
greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators – and
the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx and peculiar
long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed.
During the rainy season, the seasonal visitors scatter over a 20,000 sq km (12,500 sq miles) range until
they exhaust the green plains and the river calls once more. But Tarangire's mobs of elephant are easily
encountered, wet or dry. The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the
most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world.
On drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the
world's largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys.
Size: 2850 sq km (1,096 sq miles).
Location: 118 km (75 miles) southwest of Arusha.
Guided walking safaris.
Day trips to Maasai and Barabaig villages, as well as to the hundreds of ancient rock paintings in the
vicinity of Kolo on the Dodoma Road.
Postal Address P. O BOX 1199 Moshi, Tanzania.
Moshi - TANZANIA
Phone (Tanzania) : +255 766 834 768
E-mail : info@seasonmasteradventures.com
Need any help? Write to us at:
+255 766
834 768
seasonmasteradventures1@gmail.com
