Tarangire National Park: Trip V

Friendly elephants

It had been almost a year since we had visited Tarangire National Park (Trip IV) and we were excited to visit the north after some time away. We had remembered Tarangire for being a paradise for birds and elephants and we were not disappointed!

Beautiful campsite

Sunrise over the Silale Swamp

We arrive to Tarangire National Park around noon and were shocked at the amount of safari cars waiting to enter. We've gotten used to the non existent queues in Ruaha National Park and seeing nearly 40 safari vehicles was a shock to the system. However, this meant they were much more efficient at getting people registered and paid for and we quickly paid for our entry and special campsite. Quick side rant; camping in the park is an already expensive $30 per person and camping at a special campsite is $50 per person. The irony of this is that a special campsite literally means there is nothing but a clearing; no water points, toilet, etc. So in turn you are actually paying a ridiculous amount for absolutely zero services, it doesn't make sense! But we were willing to splurge since we assumed the public campsite (which do actually have services available) would be crowded during the holiday time and we wanted to camp in the middle of the park by the Silale Swamp.

After getting into the park we drove about 10 minutes and in the distance we saw a group of about 10 safari cars. Some seemed to be moving and jockying for space but it was obvious they were looking at something. We got excited and thought it was perhaps a cheetah hunt or some lions. We raced ahead and had to laugh at ourselves when we realized they were all taking pictures of a troop of baboons. One thing to note is that several tour operators have a "standard safari" which starts in Tarangire. As a result, the majority of the people in Tarangire are on their first day of safari and thus eager to stop for any wildlife, even distant giraffes or zebras that they can barely see. This was on full display in this instance as baboons are numerous and actually a nuisance at several of the picnic areas. But I remember MY first baboon, and it was exciting, so we just waved at the group of cars and passed by.

We had a wonderful day in the park that included several elephants within 5m of our car, tons of birds, and an unexpected car break down. The bumpy road had broken the wiring to our fuel pump but we were saved by a group of workers from the park. They helped us diagnose and fix the problem and in a very Tanzanian way were insistent that they did it not for money but because everyone needs to help each other in the bush. They were a chatty and fun group and even knew one of our co-workers from when they conducted an internship at the park. This incident happened late in the afternoon and we ended up making it to our campsite late in the evening.

The campsite was completely empty and far from anyone else. We set up camp under a tree, lit a fire, and began to prepare dinner. I was unloading stuff from the car and Ana was cooking when I wandered over to the fire. We had been speculating if a storm was going to hit us and Ana had her head down chopping veggies when she said, "I think we're gonna get hit". This was aptly timed with a buffalo that had strolled into our campsite not 15m in front of Ana. My brain registered that she was talking about the buffalo, a very uncharacteristic nonchalance from Ana. I shouted to her and she immediately shot up and ran to the car. Luckily we have some noisemakers in our car and we scared off two buffalo that were a bit to close for comfort.

We did not get hit by the storm and packed up early the next morning to explore the swamp. It was a beautiful morning and part of the benefit of camping deep inside the park is having the place to yourself in the morning. We tracked some lion and hyena footprints, did some birdwatching, and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise over the swamp before heading out of the park.