Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge is perfectly perched on top of an escarpment with sweeping views over the Tarangire River. Between about June and October, this perennial waterway attracts the huge numbers of buffalo, giraffe and elephant that thrive in Tarangire National Park.

Most visitors to Tanzania’s northern safari circuit are usually on their way to the popular Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, thus very few discover the rewarding safari experience that Tarangire has to offer. The park is best known for its big herds of elephant, tree-climbing lions, and the unusual long-necked gerenuk (also known as the giraffe gazelle). With about 550 bird species, it is a superb bird-watching destination and the best place in northern Tanzania to see majestic baobabs – Africa’s unique ‘upside down tree’.

Guests at Mpingo Ridge Lodge are privy to guided morning walks in Tarangire’s soul-stirring wilderness, as well as thrilling night game drives. The area is densely vegetated and mostly covered in open woodland with thick forest along the Tarangire River, the ideal environment for leopard.