Tarangire covers roughly 2,850 square kilometres south-east of Lake Manyara, and it is the elephant park of the northern circuit. In the dry months the Tarangire River is the only permanent water for a long way in any direction, and the animals concentrate along it in numbers matching anything in the Serengeti.
The landscape is distinctive. Ancient baobabs stand across the ridges, giving the park a look nothing else on the circuit has, and the river valley cuts through swamp and acacia woodland below them.
Beyond elephant, Tarangire holds lion, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and large buffalo herds, plus dry-country species scarce elsewhere on the circuit, including fringe-eared oryx and lesser kudu. The birdlife is exceptional, with over 500 recorded species.
Most northern circuit itineraries treat Tarangire as a first or last stop, one or two nights on the way in or out of Arusha. It rewards more time than it usually gets.