ARUSHA – LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

INTRODUCTION

The first national park I was able to go to was Manyara which also had a really beautiful lake we had lunch at after our first few hours in the park. Lake Manyara Park is located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment and is also on the edge of the Rift Valley. This national Park offers varied ecosystems, incredible bird life as well as breathtaking views. There are a varied of animals in this park which includes buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds tend to congregate on the grassy plains as well as the giraffes.

LOCATION OF THE PARK

Lake manyara is located in the northern part of the Tanzania. Lake Manyara National Park is 126 kilometers west of aAusha town. The park covers an area of 330 sq km / 125 sq miles. This also includes a lake surface of 230 sq km/ 89 sq miles.

WILDLIFE AT LAKE MANYARA

Lake Manyara has a large number of elephants and giraffes. Other animals in the park includes zebras, wilderbeest, impalas and warthogs. There is also the lesser known kik’s dik dik and KLIPSPRINGER who dwell around the ramps of the escarpment. There are leopards hosted within the scattered forests and escarpment. The healthy population of lions that are widely known for their uniue tree climbing capability. It is hard to miss the very large number of baboons in the park. They tend to live in sizeable troops of up to 200 members.

BIRD WATCHING

There is a bird list of more than 350 species throughout the park. This national park is one of the best places to visit on a tanzania birding safari. There are large flcoks of pelicans and pink flamigos who are usually spotted in the middle of the lake.there are spoonbills, egrets, heroins, stalks and other waders who tend to converge around the edges and water medows. There are other habitats such as the evergreen forests and other woodlands. These areas serve as a safe haven to many other species like the crowned eagles, created guiea fowl as well as THE nosiy silvery cheeked hornbills.

THE ECOSYSTEM IN LAKE MANYARA

There are a variety of areas throughout the park. There is the splendid SCENERY of the great rift valley’s steep escarpment in the west. Beyond that is the narrow area that safeguards the area between the escarpment and lake manyara. The silvery bowls of salt deposits FACILITATE the ability of the alkaline lake manyara to expand contract within the seasons. There are patches of ever green forests next to the escarpment that are watered by the perennial underground waters that come from the bottom of the escarpment.

MY EXPERIENCES AT THE PARK

When we first were going through the park, we saw so many baboons. There was a huge group of them and since it was the only animal we saw for a bit, we spent some time around them. It was cute seeing the babies and seeing them groom each other. For awhile we didn’t see much other than monkeys but at one point i happened to notice some elephant ears behind a tree and that’s what started us seeing a bunch of elephants. At first we just saw two causally walking around which led us to go a different area. There is where we saw more of a herd which included a young elephant that was around two years old. The interaction between the ELEPHANTS were so graceful to watch. One of them actually walked right by close enough to touch.

CONCLUSION

In all it was a good way to be able to start the trip seeing so many baboons and different groups of elephants. We started to joke throughout the week that there was an animal for the day since there always so many of one animal everyday. This night we stayed at the Manyara Serena Lodge which was a cute set up since the rooms were broken up into buildings that kind of looked like hobbit homes or huts. You can look at my other posts that talk more in depth of other parks i was able to visit during this trip.