The Tarangire National Park is in northern Tanzania, close to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.

The park is much smaller than the Serengeti but is known as the land of two giants, namely the Elephant and the Baobab tree.

For us, it’s the ‘first course’ of a 5 day trip visiting 3 parks known as the northern circuit.

Our starting point was Arusha, nestled in the foothills of Mount Meru, a town just a couple of hours from the higher Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Baobab trees within the park can reach up to 100 feet in height and have exceedingly large trunks.

They large trunks provide the tree with the ability to store sufficient water during the wet season to enable its survival during the dry season. These trees can live for thousands of years, one having been carbon dated to being 3,000 years old.

It’s also known as the upside down tree given the extensive size of it’s roots. Elephants are also known to eat the bark for moisture.

We spent half a day on safari in the park and there is plenty to see.

These are grey crowned cranes, which we first saw in the Masai Mara, they are quite stunning creatures.

We have seen quite a few warthogs now and they are skittish creatures, once they spot you, off they scoot.

Our guide pointed out the tree shown below, which he called a ‘sausage tree’, due to the pendulous fruit hanging from it’s branches.

The park has plenty of termite hills, this one has attitude!

Soon enough we spotted a pride of lions resting on the river bank across from us.

A group of Wildebeests stroll along the savanna below.

A troop of elephants seek shade under a tree in the middle of the day.

The elephant below uses a tree to scratch against.

We spotted a massive group of elephants with the young across the river bank.

We waited on the other side to watch them stroll down the river bank towards us.

Once they reached the other side they started wallowing in the water pools. Using their trunks to spray muddy water over their bodies to cool themselves down.

The younger ones started frolicking in the water which made it lovely to watch.

Below we spotted a grey headed kingfisher flying past young elephants in a water pool.

As we headed out of the park we encountered a cheetah passing along the roadside next to us.

These creatures are super fast and agile, sleek yet muscular, they are one of the alpha predators in the park.

Suddenly we spotted a second one, appearing through the grassy camouflage.

We had the best start, it’s a lovely park and well worth a visit, it’s teaming with wildlife.

We settled down in our hotel for the night after a long day.

Shortly after we arrived the heavens opened and a thunder storm passed over. Our warm bed was never so welcome.

Tomorrow we head to the Serengeti.