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 shriveled to a shadow of its wet season self, but is choked with wildlife.  Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that here, always there is water.

Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons.  It is the greatest concentration of wildlife outside of the Serengeti.  The predators are waiting for the smorgasbord of animals for their noontime meals.

During the rainy season the seasonal visitors scatter over a 20,000 sq km range until they exhaust the green plains and the river calls once more.  The elephants of Tarangire are easily encountered whether it is wet or dry.  The swamps tinged green all year round, are the focus of over 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world.

One drier ground you will find the Kori Bustard, the heaviest flying bird, the stocking thighed ostrich, the world’s largest bird, and the somewhat drabber rufoustailed weaver and ashy starling, all endemic to the dry savannah of northern Tanzania.  Most bird lovers will be looking for the colorful lovebird,

Tarangire pythons climb trees, as do the lions and leopard, lounging in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree disguises the twitch of a tail.

The size of the park is 1,096 square miles, and the location is 75 miles from Arusha.  It is an easy drive from Arusha or Lake Manyara following a surfaced road to within four miles of the main entrance gate, from here you can continue on to the Ngorongoro Crater or the Serengeti.

Things to do game drives, guided walking safaris, day trips to the Maasai and Barabaig villages, as well as the hundreds of rock paintings in the vicinity of Kolo on the Dodoma Road.  This is a place you can visit all year round, but June to September are the best months for the most wildlife.

Accommodations in the park are two lodges, one tented lodge, two luxury tented camps inside the park, another half dozen exclusive lodges and tented camps just outside its borders.