Tarangire National Park

As we made our way down to the Tarangire River, we started to see the park’s famous baobabs. Their exquisite molten forms towered over giraffes. Alongside the river, baobabs gave way to looming palms with waving tendrils like fingers. A huge herd of corkscrew-tipped eland were outlined like cave paintings on the river walls. The landscape took us from familiar grassland scenes to the beauty of the roughshod topography of the Rift Valley floor. →

Liquid Magnetism
The Tarangire River runs 150 kilometres from the Kondoa highlands all the way to Lake Burunge. Along its course, it creates a web of marshes, swamps, wetlands, and waterholes - life-giving water for plants and wildlife.

We crept over lion tracks in the dust, bumping into the occasional game-viewer, until we were completely alone. Our eyes scoured combretum forest for game in the midday heat until we rounded a bend to realise that game in these numbers are right out in the open. Hundreds of buffalo spilled into the riverbed – congregating in clusters in the nearby shade and at ribbons of water flanking the dry streambed, reflections connecting sky and earth.

Around a few bends and we were on the edge of the great emerald jewel in this dryland expanse. The lush Silale Swamp glimmered in front of us in a swathe of pools and red earth that offset almost shocking green marshland. The water pulsated with life – the coming and going of waterbirds, antelope shoulder-deep in the water. In the distance, elephant backs were just discernible - egrets like markers in the marsh. This was to be our prime game-viewing spot for the next couple of days.

We made our way to Oliver’s Camp as the heat of midday hit its zenith – experiencing Asilia’s incredible welcome and hospitality. A fresh lunch, frosty wine, and perfect bush peace were all on the menu. We spent precious hours of the afternoon in our tent, surrounded by elephants – a confessional view through the gauze with the hum and rumble of the breeding herd. Elephants can definitely transform an afternoon – and Tarangire is famous for its high number of these magnificent pachyderms. →

Horned Herds
At the heat of midday, pools of water in the Tarangire River attract wildlife - from individual animals to great herds that pepper the landscape.

Superb Silale Swamp
Silale Swamp is breathtaking. This almost unexpected wetland is an oasis for wildlife. With red-baked elephants and distant blue hills, nature used all our favourite crayons in this part of Tarangire.

Now, every leopard sighting is something to celebrate, but our leopard sighting in Tarangire is hands-down one of the special ones in my personal history. Draped over a dead tree branch at the marsh’s edge, this leopard was a chandelier of cat. Among the branches, unmoving in the depths of sleep, it would have been easily missed. Paws hanging, it lay at an almost extraordinary height, gently shifting position from time to time, but largely rooted and motionless. A few game-viewers arrived and everyone was transfixed, mesmerised by this perfect spotted cat in the changing afternoon light. What a vantage point from which to take in its territory.

As sunset took hold, it looked at us with almost red-glowing eyes, surveyed the area in all directions, and rolled over for the last of its sleep before the night-time hunt began. When we drove past the following morning, there may as well have been a fingerprint in the now-empty trough of tree branch. →

Dozing and Dangling
Leopards are known for being secretive, but this up-high cat nap was an iconic view of this special species and a chance to observe it in rapt appreciation for precious long minutes in Tarangire.

Horns Among the Thorns
We were spoilt with many sightings of big buffalo herds. From young calves to curly-topped bulls, it's always a contest to see who blinks first.

What To Wear on Your Tarangire Safari
Get safari-ready with the best safari clothes and accessories for Tarangire.

Where To Stay in Tarangire National Park
We stayed at the luxurious Oliver's Camp - a perfect bush hideaway. The warm Asilia staff and guides are immensely passionate about Tarangire and providing a superb bush experience - ensuring you leave with vivid, lifelong safari memories of the people, place, and wonderful wildlife on offer in the park.

Palm Reader
At a stretch in the Tarangire River, baobabs give way to tall palms, tickling the sky with frond fingers.

Towering Trees
From the world's tallest animals to reaching baobab branches, Tarangire National Park delivers the best of Africa's wild places at scale.