Weekend Photos: Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

Continuing the saga of my mind-blowing trip to Africa. Given the hundreds of photos I took in Tarangire, and how amazing the animals there were, this might get long, even though we only spent about 30 hours in the park. At this point I'm totally fishing for sympathy for having to choose a couple dozen photos out of maybe 400 (after editing) from the park!

We left Arusha first thing in the morning, piling happily into the Toyota Landcruiser (special safari version, and the successor to the traditional Land Rover) with all our luggage.

Naturally, on the drive to the park (3 hours?) we got very excited about pretty much everything we saw. Our driver, Said, pointed out some herds of wildebeest and zebra, noting that at their foaling season they tend to migrate out of the park onto the Masai lands, where the Masai herders keep the predators away. He was correct when he told us we wouldn't see any in Tarangire NP (but we saw plenty more later on the Serengeti).

Petey Possom, and our guide Said, ready to roll.

Initial exciting zebra sighting. Note wildebeest lying down far left. The two species like to hang out together, as one sees better and the other smells better, making them a good defensive team.

We entered the park about 11 a.m., and spotted our first baobab tree.

At this point, our guide/driver Said also popped up the roof of the safari truck and we began the fun of standing up in a vehicle moving over rough roads. Seriously, that was fun! Of course, any time we stopped, as for lunch, we had to close all windows and lower the roof. Don't want baboons in the Rover!

For the first little while what we saw were birds, not large charismatic mammals. But the birds were amazing, like this Superb Starling.

Not the starlings invading your North American garden.

Soon we saw our first giraffes. When asked before starting about favorite animals, I somewhat randomly selected the giraffe. That choice faced some challenges, but they remained among my top choices for sure.

In Tanzania, we saw Masai Giraffes. Later, in Kenya, we saw two more varieties, each more beautiful than the last.

Then, just before lunch, we met our first elephants.

This female (the square brow is a good marker) is elderly, as shown by the deep indentations on the sides of the forehead.

On our safaris some lunches were at hotels, some were picnics, as on this first day. When we ate outdoors, we still did it in style.

Said sets the table. Note the cage to keep us in and the animals out (yeah, okay, we were able to go out, keeping an eye out for critters).

The cage didn't keep some things out, however!

Van Decken's Hornbill

White-headed buffalo weaver

Pretty sure the cage was all about these guys.

The baboons were hanging around the outhouse, which was a little intimidating!

After lunch the critters came thick and fast. Here are a few highlights.

The elephant parade! The littlest one may be only a few weeks old.

Danni proclaimed that warthogs were her favorite animals. They are kind of cute, in a so-ugly-it's-cute way.

A young warthog.

A mature warthog.

Waterbuck, a large variety of antelope (there are many, many kinds of antelope. But the ones here in the US that we often call antelopes--pronghorns--are not).

The lilac roller is one of the most beautiful birds I've seen. We had a lengthy debate with our guide (whose English is of course British) over whether to say lie-lack or lee-lahk. He converted us.

The waterbuck was one of the larger antelopes. The dik-dik is the smallest, about the size of a smallish beagle. With its big eyes, it is one of the cutest animals around.

We didn't pull into our hotel (Sopa Lodge inside the park, for best use of our time) until barely in time for showers before dinner. Next morning, we were out before sunrise to spend a long morning with still more animals.

Sunrise, with baobab and acacia.

Cape buffalo are among the most dangerous mammals in Africa, being large, horned, and generally grumpy.

Some animals, like impala, we saw in vast numbers. Males have impressive horns, females go bare-headed.

Young males. Only one male gets to be with the herd of females at a time, so the males band together for protection.

Male or female, the impalas have distinctive striped rumps. A male can usually only hold his position with the female herd for up to a week before yielding to a less exhausted rival.

If impalas (and later gazelles) were common sights, other things we saw were not, like this black-backed jackal. We saw them only a couple of times.

The secretary bird was another less-common favorite.

I know you are waiting with bated breath for the Big One. Did we see a lion? Of course we did! Only the one in Tarangire, but before our trip was done we saw a lot, and I'll have better photos from other encounters.

Not roaring, but panting in the heat.

One of the most exciting things that happened on the trip was an encounter with a herd of elephants in an area where there has been some poaching, at least until recently. Elephants do remember, and have a communal memory as well. Unlike the earlier herd that placidly walked right past our vehicle without a care, this one was skittish, and the matriarch made sure we didn't get too close--with a total of at least 3 false charges. If you need to get your heart rate up without moving a muscle, try standing in a vehicle at eye level with a charging elephant!

Apparently you can tell she doesn't mean it because her ears aren't back. Still drew some interesting exclamations from us!

Another elephantine highlight was a young male greatly enjoying a bath in a small pond. I don't think I've ever seen any animal so clearly exhibiting joie de vivre.

A still photo doesn't do it justice, but even here you can see the happy swagger of this youngster!

I could go on and on, but your eyeballs are probably worn out. So just a couple of final photos of my favorites, the giraffes.

Say what?

See you next week!

On to the Serengeti! (And yes, I have lots more photos from here that I can and will add randomly to other posts!)

 

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024
 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
Don't miss a post--Follow us!