Tanzania · East Africa
Tarangire and Lake Manyara.
Tarangire is baobab and elephant country and the northern circuit's most underrated park; Lake Manyara is a short, scenic stop beneath the Rift escarpment.
Photo Matt Cramblett / Unsplash
Tarangire concentrates dramatically in the dry season, when animals draw down to the river, and it is quiet compared with the Serengeti at almost any time of year. Manyara is small, often given a single night, and known for its tree-climbing lions and its flamingos.
How do you get to Tarangire?
By road from Arusha, about two hours, which makes it the usual first stop on the northern circuit. Light aircraft also fly to airstrips in and near the park.
What is Tarangire known for?
Elephants and baobabs. The park holds some of the largest elephant herds in northern Tanzania, drawn to the Tarangire River, and ancient baobabs stand across its landscape. It also has large numbers of buffalo and a very long bird list.
What are Lake Manyara's tree-climbing lions?
Lions in Lake Manyara National Park that are regularly seen resting in the branches of acacia and fig trees, a habit seen in only a few places in Africa. The park lies between the lake and the steep wall of the Great Rift Valley, with groundwater forest, hippo pools and, when conditions suit them, flamingos on the lake.
Tarangire or Serengeti: what is the difference?
Tarangire is smaller, closer to Arusha and much quieter, built around a river rather than open plains. The Serengeti is where the migration moves and needs a flight or a long drive to reach. Most northern-circuit trips include both, with Tarangire first.
How long should you spend in Tarangire?
Two nights in Tarangire, and a single night is usually enough for Lake Manyara. Both sit on the route from Arusha to Ngorongoro.
What is there to see in Tarangire and Lake Manyara?
What does Tarangire and Lake Manyara pair well with?
- Ngorongoro and the crater highlandsThe Ngorongoro Crater is a collapsed caldera holding a resident population of game year-round, including some of the last black rhino in the north.
- The SerengetiThe Serengeti is the ecosystem the wildebeest migration moves through, and it is large enough that where you stay decides what you see.
- Zanzibar and the coastZanzibar is the standard finish to a Tanzanian safari — a Swahili archipelago with a World Heritage capital and a long history of its own.
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Elsewhere in Tanzania
- The southern and western circuitsNyerere, Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale are Tanzania's wild end — far larger, far emptier, and considerably harder to reach.
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