Tarangire National Park is the home of elephants and baobab, an unusual deciduous tree that is native to the area.  Tree climbing Pythons, Zebra, Impala, Gazelles and abundant birdlife inhabit the area as well as the tribal cultures of the Maasai, Barbaig and Mbugwe. 
 
During the dry season, which corresponds to summer and early fall in the United States (July-October), the Tarangire River serves water to elephant herds up to 300 members strong, big cats like lions, cheetahs and leopards, hoofed beasts from zebra to klipspringer to dikdik, seldom-seen creatures like kudus and Oryx, tough characters like warthogs, hyenas, and African wild dogs, and the gentle giraffes, harems of baboons, hippos -- the list could go on. Water levels remain high enough to make the river a permanent source of water. Animals typically gather twice daily along its winding banks, where the smaller ones hide in tall reeds and elephant grass. 
 
Baobab tree help elephant survive when food becomes scarce and elephants resort to eating woody pulp. The massive, compound trunk of the baobab tree, wrapped in silvery bark, rises to form a tangle of branches that curve and taper until they are reduced to mere squiggles of wood. The Tarangire landscape

transforms when the rains begin to fall. During the "green season" from November through March, and the "long rains" during April and May, greenery abounds. The baobabs grow leaves, giraffes forage for acacia, leopards hide in the cool foliage, and rock pythons glide up leafy trees near the swamps. A scene that looks vibrant and green in February will have turned ochre, yellow, and brown by August. The Baobab tree is a strange looking tree that grows in low-lying areas. 

When bare of leaves, the spreading branches of the Baobab look like roots sticking up into the air, rather as if it had been planted upside-down. Baobabs are very difficult to kill, they can be burnt, or stripped of their bark, and they will just form new bark and carry on growing.
 
An old Baobab tree can create its own ecosystem, as it supports the life of countless creatures, from the largest of mammals to the thousands of tiny creatures scurrying in and out of its crevices. Birds nest in its branches; baboons devour the fruit; bush babies and fruit bats drink the nectar and pollinate the flowers, and elephants have been known to chop down and consume a whole tree. 
 
Fiber from the bark is used to make rope, baskets, cloth, musical instrument strings, and waterproof hats. While stripping the bark from the lower trunk of most trees usually leads to their death, baobabs not only survive this common practice, but they regenerate new bark.