Scenic view of Tarangire National Park from Tarangire Safari Lodge The trees with thin trunks and wispy canopies are mostly acacia, but those with crowns that are more clumped are baobab.

Two baobab trees, and a palm tree, at Tarangire National Park.

The trunk of this baobab tree has been damaged by elephants, who eat the bark to get at the moisture of the tree when watering holes dry up.

A ficus tree in Arusha National Park.

An acacia tree full of dangling abandoned weavers’ nests.

Close-up of a young acacia branch. The acacia has thorns that are very sharp (I know – I walked into a dead acacia branch with thorns on it!), but notice that near the end (where my finger is), the thorns are shorter and more pliable. That is the new growth. Giraffes cannot destroy acacia trees because of the sharp thorns, but can nibble off the tips where the thorns are not sharp. The largest acacia trees have branches out of reach of giraffes, and these large branches don’t have thorns.  Birds are not bothered by the thorns, so they are often spotted in thorny acacia branches.

Blooming acacia branch

A type of fig tree grows right into the rocks of the kopjes, and their roots drape down over the rocks.