Tarangire National Park

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We decided to organize our safari in Arusha and not pre-book from abroad for various reasons. Usually, foreign bookings end up costing a premium price because the safari operators know they have the "knowledge advantage" when dealing at a distance. They also know your time is limited in trying to research everything online. Furthermore, we were still in a world wide recession, and wanted to guage for ourselves how busy and how flexible the safari companies were based on how many other tourists were around Arusha. We don't know how much we saved by just showing up in Arusha and booking locally, vs. if we'd prearranged everything on the Internet. In the end, we ended up going with our original choice of safari company, as the competition didn't seem too eager to meet our requirements. Also, by booking locally, we knew that the bulk of the money would go into the local economy.

We started the safari at 08:30. We got to meet our driver/guide Eli who took us to a grocery store where we stocked up on bitter lemon drinks and other light snacks before heading out to Tarangire National Park.

At first, we weren't sure we wanted to visit either the Taranagire or Lake Manyara National Parks. It was the season for short rains and animals tend to spread out when water is plentiful. We'd read that both Tarangire and Lake Manyara could be quite devoid of animals in the rainy season.

We were glad we listened to advise from Roy Safaris and didn't just go by the guide books. Roy Safaris recommended Tarangire and said the drivers had kept reporting good animal sightings. And they were right!

Yes, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are way better known than either Tarangire or Lake Manyara. But, you don't get to see Elephants by the hundreds in the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater. They are more known for great herds of Wildebeast and Zebra.

The Kikoti Camp Site at Tarangire was a wonderfully unique setup. Since it's located inside the park we had to flash a torch or blow on a whistle when we wanted to go for dinner or breakfast. A Masai guard with a spear escorted us each time. Yes, the lions are scared of the Masai, even of 5 year old Masai boys.

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Photos

Tarangire Park Entrance
Yes, that is an Elephant skull

Safari Truck
The top pops up to provide an unobstructed view

Elephants
See how close they get, even with their babies?