september-2018

26 / TRAVEL / Tanzania
TRAVEL / 27
I WASN’T EXPECTING to see the leopard. He came
charging across the road in front of me, vanishing quickly into
a dense copse of sausage trees on the river’s edge. It’s rare to
see a leopard out in the open. Even here, in Tarangire National
Park, where the great migration is arriving from the south –
populating the edges of the park’s Tarangire River with game
– leopard sightings are scarce.
A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES
I was 23 when I first came here. We had driven from Dar es
Salaam. It was the 1980s. It took two days. I had forgotten that
such bush escapes existed after the traffic-tangled sweatbox of
Tanzania’s former capital city. And with that recuperative,
soul-soothing visit, this pretty park and its (at the time) only
place to stay – Tarangire Safari Lodge, where I was last night
– found its way into my heart and I have remembered it
affectionately ever since. The simplicity of the lodge’s unfussy
interior is a comforting reminder of the game-park destinations
of my childhood. The lodge is bigger and more sophisticated
now, but its soul remains unchanged, perhaps because the
same family still owns and operates it. The deep and cold
swimming pool is the perfect place for exuberant children,
who have been incarcerated in a car for too long, to burn off
energy. And the stupendous, stretching view – the very best
bit about this place – remains precisely the same. The lodge
sits on a bluff overlooking the Tarangire River, the perfect
perch from which to watch game gently meandering to and
from the water, elephants enjoying dust baths, honking zebras,
and wildebeest trotting through bleached grass, while children
argue over whose turn it is to use the binoculars.
SMALL CROWD, BIG GAME
Often eclipsed by its better-known neighbours in the
north, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, missing out on
a trip to Tarangire is a mistake. The park’s ecosystem houses
the second-highest concentration of wildlife of any park in
Tanzania after the Serengeti. It’s famed for its giants: herds
of elephants – several-hundred strong – wander the river
valley, while baobab trees stand erect everywhere. According
to folklore, the baobab was a grumbler who complained
to the gods that it wanted a different-coloured flower, that it
disliked the scent of its blossom and that it wished its fruit
were sweeter. The gods became tired of listening to the baobab
moan and up-ended him to muffle his whining. >
“The park’s ecosystem houses the
second-highest concentration of wildlife of
any park in Tanzania”
Where to Stay
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire Treetops
Luxury treehouses built among the
majestic baobabs and marulas. You
can experience night-game drives
and bush walks here.
tanzaniaodyssey.com
Chem Chem Lodge
Nestled in the picturesque western
side of the wildlife concession, the
lodge consists of eight secluded
tent-style suites and an opulent
main residence.
chemchemsafari.com
Sangaiwe Tented Lodge
With stunning views over Lake
Buringi, Sangaiwe Tented
Lodge offers luxury tented
accommodation.
sangaiwe.com
Above: Images taken in
Ruaha National Park
Right page: Evening view
on Tarangire National
Park (top); Lioness
and cub at Tarangire
National Park (bottom
left); Katavi National
Park (bottom right)
Eliza Powell (above), Hannah Gatzweiler (bottom)
Eliza Powell (above and bottom right), Brenden Simonson (bottom left)