The eighth largest national park in Tanzania, Tarangire National Park is dominated by the Tarangire River. It has 9 distinct vegetation zones ranging from grassland to woodlands and has the largest recorded concentration of breeding bird species in the world. Our visit here, as our guide Goodluck put it, was the appetizer for what would be a fabulous wildlife viewing banquet.

We stayed at the Lake Burunge Tented Camp in a canvas tent under a thatched roof.  It was very comfortable and when it rained hard during the night we were dry and snug. 

It didn’t take long for Mitch to get anxious for some exercise. In the morning he found a partner to walk around the parking lot with. She, however, was carrying a baby.

The rain during the night made for tricky navigation. “Was this the rainy season?” we asked. We were told that climate change was causing the seasons to become unpredictable. This worked to our advantage in the long run because the Wildebeests which drive the migration patterns don’t follow our calendar but rather follow the green pastures that are fed by rain. And the grasses couldn’t be greener.

As promised the bird life in Tarangire was abundant. We are not birders, so please bear with us as we attempt to identify the birds we were able to photograph. Any mistakes? Let us know.

Common Fiscal

Egyptian Goose

Lylac Breasted Roller

Ostriches

Red-billed hornbill

Southern ground hornbill

Tawny Eagles

Verreaux’s eagle-owl

The Secretary Bird and a Waterbuck. “Take dictation!”

As for mammals, we saw lots of elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, impalas and a lion and were introduced to termite mounds and their often accompanying banded mongoose.

Elephants like to rest by leaning on trees.

Caring parent.

This elephant, brown from rolling in the dirt, walked straight at us and crossed the road directly in front of one of the jeeps.

Elephants love Baobab trees and rip off the bark to get at the water the tree holds. I thought of Babar.

Mature male giraffes have darker spots. They are also larger. Note the muscles on his neck.

Male Impala

Pregnant Zebra or maybe just over ate.

Warthog Family

A beautiful young male lion takes a drink of water. Seeing animals in the wild like this is very satisfying because they are so healthy looking and filled with such vitality. 

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