Lake
Manyara National Park
Stretching for 50km along
the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment,
Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by
Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.
The compact game-viewing circuit
through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian
safari experience.
12:51 PM 1/20/2007From the entrance gate, the road winds
through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest
where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along
the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient
mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the
shadows, and outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously
in the high canopy.
Contrasting with the intimacy
of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive
views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged
blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes.
Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on
these grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark
in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.
Inland of the floodplain,
a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of
Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively
tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between
the acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages
in their shade. Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted
on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams
and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of
the park.
Manyara provides the perfect
introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. More than 400
species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor
to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these
in one day. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos
on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds
such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.
About
Lake Manyara National Park
Size: 330 sq km (127 sq miles), of which up to 200 sq km
(77 sq miles) is lake when water levels are high.
Location: In northern Tanzania. The entrance gate lies 1.5
hours (126km/80 miles) west of Arusha along a newly surfaced
road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto
wa Mbu.
How
To Get there
By road, charter or scheduled flight from Arusha, en route
to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. |
