Lake Manyara national park
Lake Manyara is a shallow alkaline lake at an altitude of 960 m (3,150 ft), formed in a depression in the Rift Valley System. ... The lake has no outflow, but is fed by underground springs and by several permanent streams that drain surrounding Ngorongoro Highlands.
The 7th largest lake of Tanzania, Lake Manyara is indeed unique. It is 40kmX15km when it is largest during the rainy season. It nearly dries up in extremely dry periods. Lgend has it that it derived its name from the Masai work ‘emanyara’ or Mbugwe word ‘manyero’( a place where animals drink water)
The Lake is the home for a variety of birds totaling to as many as 2 million in the peak season. A ton of Flamingos being the site to behold.
Start the day with a hefty breakfast at Hotel Meru, Arusha and get into our pop-up top Land Cruisers with lead guide Onesmo briefing us about what the day would be like, we sing Hakuna Matata and set off from Arusha (the gateway to Tanzania’s wildlife ) and reached Lake Manyara, by around noon (117km / 2 hour drive) and were absolutely blown away by the first sighting of Tanzania’s wildlife : the hippos, zebras, wildebeest , baboons and a ton of bird life …
The marsh with the baboons, hippos and the birds co-existing happily was a sight to sit and soak in. We are deep into the migration and could see a whole lot of Zebras and Wildebeests which dared the Mara river crossing and have reached pretty much the south end of Serengeti.
In all this excitement, don’t miss paying attention to the forest line, the trees and the Baobab tree in particular …
It was really our first encounter with the incredible Tanzanian wild and we were, quite understandably, quite blown away as first time travellers to East Africa.
In all, an ecstatic moment as we got going with our wild-life sojourn …. Time to sit down in the break area created by the National park for a packed lunch as we look over the gorgeous Lake Manyara at a distance …. and then it was time to head out to Ngorongoro Crater …..
Excited? you bet
Delighted to share a few visuals through our excited eyes and lense..
