For those of you following closely, Tarangire National Park followed our visit to Arusha National Park and the news that our guide, Ali, would not be able to complete our safari due to the death of his sister. We had no internet connection for almost a week. As we post this entry, we have just completed a 16 hour travel day which took us from Serengeti to Kilimanjaro Airport and a 5:30pm flight to Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia. We are safely in Ethiopia and the below post details Tarangire National Park. Tonight or tomorrow we will post entries detailing Ngorongoro Conservation Area and more from Serengeti.
Tuesday morning (December 10th) brought the arrival of our new safari guide, Larzaro Karashi. Mr. Karashi "hung up his guide boots about 4 years ago" but he has answered the call to assist us as Ali mourns the loss of his sister. It did not take long to figure out that Mr. Karashi is a professor emeritus of Tanzanian wildlife. He is exceedingly knowledgeable and equally as kind and humble. We are fortunate that he agreed to lead our rag tag group.
Below is "Mr. K" with Mabret and Roman.
Our drive toward Tarangire National Park took us through the heart of Tanzania's third largest city, Arusha. The picture below was taken near the center of town and marks the spot which is said to be the exact center of Africa.
Tarangire National Park is Tanzania's third largest wildlife reserve. The park is home to elephants, leopards, lions, gazelles, hartebeest, impala and many other animals and birds. The Tarangire River meanders through the park which entices many animals to come into the park from surrounding areas during the dry season.
By the early afternoon, we had arrived at Maramboi Camp which is approximately 20 minutes from the entrance to Tarangire National Park. Camp Maramboi is breathtaking with, perhaps, the best scenery and layout of all the stops thus far in Tanzania. The zebras and impala freely roam the front of the camp all day adding to the relaxing feel of the place.
Below are views from around the campground.
We took a game drive on Tuesday afternoon followed by a 6am game drive on Wednesday morning. While these explorations did not lead us to a lion, we were blessed to be spectators to other wonders of nature.
The elephant population in Africa has dwindled throughout the years but the Tanzanian government has been taking steps to curtail poaching. This large herd of bull elephants was a welcome sight.
Below, is one of the highlights of our two days in Tarangire.
It is mind boggling that people would kill these animals for the ivory from their tusks. It is further confounding that ivory is considered by some to be a jewel and worn as a fashion statement.
It is welcome news that the Clinton Foundation has announced that working with governments worldwide to stop the ivory trade will be a focus of its 2014 campaign.
Many species of birds inhabit Tarangire and as we enhance our spotting skills finding the various birds has become a bit easier. Below are a few of our favorites.
The yellow necked spur fowl.
The lilac breasted roller.
The steppe eagle.
These dwarf mongoose were guarding their ant hill against the blended mongoose shown in the following picture.
Wednesday evening brought dinner under a beautiful African sky and an early bedtime as we leave tomorrow morning (Thursday) for Ngorongoro Crater.
