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Tarangire National Park - Tanzania
The Tarangire river in Tarangire National Park seen in
dry season |
Giraffe walking the plains of Tarangire National Park |
The mighty Baobab trees of Tarangire National Park |
Day after day of cloudless skies. 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 it 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 migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala,
gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It's
the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti
ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators – and the one place in
Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately
fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly
observed. During the rainy season, the seasonal visitors scatter
over a 20,000 sq km (12,500 sq miles) range until they exhaust
the green plains and the river calls once more. But Tarangire's
mobs of elephant are easily encountered, wet or dry.
The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird
varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in
the world. On drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the
heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world's
largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering
like turkeys.
More ardent bird-lovers might keep an eye open for screeching
flocks of the dazzlingly colourful yellow-collared lovebird, and
the somewhat drabber rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starling –
all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania.
Disused termite mounds are often frequented by colonies of the
endearing dwarf mongoose, and pairs of red-and-yellow barbet,
which draw attention to themselves by their loud, clockwork-like
duetting.
Tarangire's pythons climb trees, as do its lions and leopards,
lounging in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree
disguises the twitch of a tail. |
