Best of Tanzania

• Tarangire National Park crowds around the supportive spine of the Tarangire River. When the park desiccates in the hot breathy dry season, this single river is filled with game that migrates to cool and refreshing water from up to almost 3 000 square kilometres (1160 square miles) of this park as well as from nearby Manyara National Park.
• Tarangire’s ecosystem is home to the second-highest concentration of wildlife of any other park in Tanzania after theSerengeti.
• All that is real, quintessential, capture-it-in-the-lens-of-a-single-shot Africa is here: huge herds of elephants, 300 strong, strung along a dawdling river, Tolkien-esque baobab stand erect and are literally everywhere.
• Elephants are dwarfed by them as they rest in the shade against sturdy trunks and with their distinct shapes, these huge old trees are rendered as perfect models against a setting sun. 

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

• The dry season months of June through to October are the best times to visit the Tarangire National Park, as most of the animals congregate around water sources to remain hydrated, providing travellers with excellent game viewing opportunities.
• The wet season is between November and May. The vegetation is lovely and green. It is also prime bird watching time since migratory birds are present. 

• The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. At nearly 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) across, 600 meters (1970 feet) deep and 300 square kilometres (115 square miles) in area, the crater is a heart-stoppingly impressive, fully-paid up member of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World club and – as part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area – a UNESCO world heritage site.
• Formed more than two million years ago, it began life when a giant volcano – estimated to have rivalled Kilimanjaro in height – blew its top.
• Nicknamed the Garden of Eden of Africa, and called El-Nkoronkoro by the Masai, meaning Gift of Life, the park hosts one of the densest mammal populations on the planet: zebra, buffalo, hyena, wildebeest and lions all thrive here, in their topographically tailored conservation area.
• There are approximately 25,000 resident animals, notable for their absence, though, are giraffe, which are unable to negotiate the crater’s steep sides.

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

• This season between March and May is normally characterized by intermittent rains and high humidity. Migratory wildebeest herds calve around this time, which attracts plenty of predators.
• The weather is coolest between June to August, with lows of about 45°F or 7°C and highs of about 75°F or 24°C. During this time, the country is refreshingly green.
• September to November is a delightful time to visit, comparable to springtime in North America and Europe. The days are warmer with scattered rains in November, these rains are typically short and localized.
• December, January and February are the warmest months of the year and morning and evening temperatures are refreshingly cool with low humidity.
• At any time of year the temperatures on the Ngorongoro Crater rim can be decidedly cooler than on the crater floor.

• The Serengeti, one of the planet’s biggest and most enduring wildlife havens, stretches all the way from the Ngorongoro Highlands to Lake Victoria. It takes its name from a Maasai word, siringitu, “the place where the land moves on forever”.
• The Serengeti, which covers over 12 000 square kilometres (4633 square miles), is home to over three million large animals across dozens of species; a significant number of which, a million and a half wildebeest, half a million zebra, prodded by the instinct to survive, chase new pasture after the rains and take up an annual march of almost 1 000 kilometres (621 miles); the largest – and one of the last – great terrestrial migrations on earth.
• This awe inspiring mammalian movement supports inevitable predators – from sleek savannah dwelling cheetahs who pick off the weak and straggling to enormous crocodiles that lie inert most of the year in anticipation of an annual feast as a never ending column of animals moves relentlessly on across land and water.
• And within the impressive proportions of the expansive Serengeti, keep your eyes also peeled for the small; showy Agama lizards and Rock hyraxes make their homes amongst granite kopjes that dot the park, more than five hundred bird species have been recorded here as well as 100 varieties of dung beetle, arduously rolling their cargo onward.

BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

• Between January and March the migration is calving in the Southern Serengeti which is spectacular to see.
• Rains arrive between April and May, mostly short afternoon storms. It is low season so it’s usually less crowded. After the rains in April and May, the grass is longer in June and the migration moves up the Western Corridor of the Serengeti.
• The migration arrives in the Northern Serengeti between end of June and early July, and there are numerous river crossings into Kenya.
• October, November and December bring cooler weather, as the early rains start to fall in the Serengeti.