Safari - Day 3 - Tarangire

The third and final day of our safari was in Tarangire National Park, which is best known for the many herds of elephants who roam around the 1100 square miles of the park. I think I posted about one encounter with an angry elephant just after I returned from safari...that was in Tarangire! I'm sure we saw at least 50 elephants that day. They are imposing, almost majestic creatures - to give you an idea about their size, here is a picture of one walking in front of a Land Rover, a vehicle which comfortably fits 9 people!

Tarangire is also known for the massive baobab trees that dress the landscape, some of which are THOUSANDS of years old. The baobab is an enormous tree - there is nothing to compare it to in North America (except maybe a house!). It is seriously the biggest tree I've ever seen, like nothing I could have imagined. Using a herd of gigantic elephants as a point of reference, here is a photo of several elephants next to one of these trees! Because of their size, the tops of baobab trees act as a natural "rainwater collection system" and they store lots of water in their massive trunks. Unfortunately, elephants have figured this out and use their tusks to rip into the trees and eat the moist bark, especially when they don't have a good water source. You can see the damage to this baobab behind the elephants.

I don't think I've mentioned yet how fortunate we were with the weather during our weekend safari. Tanzania is REALLY HOT AND HUMID, plus we were there during the rainy season, but we had the most beautiful weather on safari! The temperature was almost cool, the sky was a perfect blue, the sun didn't seem too hot, the humidity was low, and we got zero rain. The weather could not have been any better - we were wildly lucky. Here is a picture of the bridge over one of the rivers inside Tarangire, and you can see how great the weather was that day.

The rest of these pictures are also from our day inside Tarangire: giraffes, gazelles, a deer-like animal whose name I can't remember, warthogs, baboons, and more elephants. Enjoy! [Click on any image to see it full-size.]