Tarangire National Park has some of the highest population density of elephants as compared to anywhere in Tanzania, and its sparse vegetation, strewn with baobab and acacia trees, makes it a beautiful and distinctive location to visit.

Tarangire is a popular stop for people traveling through the northern safari circuit on their way to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. It is only a few hours’ drive from Arusha. The park is divided into two game-controlled areas, with wildlife roaming freely throughout.

Thousands of gazelles, wildebeests, zebras, and giraffes migrate to the scrub plains of Tarangire National Park before the rains, where the last grazing land remains. Tarangire offers unrivaled game viewing, with elephants aplenty during the dry season. For their afternoon meal, pachyderm families play around the ancient trunks of baobab trees and strip acacia bark from thorn trees. A stopover in Tarangire is a memorable experience, with breathtaking views of the Maasai Steppe and the mountains in the south.

While migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest, and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons, herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams. It’s home to the highest concentration of wildlife outside of the Serengeti ecosystem—a feast for predators—and the only place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope like the stately fringe-eared oryx and strange long-necked gerenuk can be seen on a regular basis.

During the rainy season, the seasonal visitors disperse over a 20,000-square-kilometer (12,500-square-mile) area until the green plains are exhausted and the river beckons once more. Tarangire’s elephant herds, on the other hand, are easy to spot, wet or dry. The swamps, which are tinged green all year, are home to 550 different bird species, making them the world’s most breeding species in one habitat.

The Kori bustard, the world’s heaviest flying bird, the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world’s largest bird, and small groups of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys can all be found on drier ground.

Screeching flocks of the dazzlingly colorful yellow-collared lovebird, the somewhat drabber rufous-tailed weaver, and the ashy starling, all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania, may be seen by more ardent bird-lovers.

Dwarf mongoose colonies and pairs of red-and-yellow barbets frequent abandoned termite mounds, which draw attention to themselves with their loud, clockwork-like duetting.

Tarangire’s pythons, like its lions and leopards, climb trees, lounging in the branches where the sausage tree’s fruit hides the twitch of a tail.