Lake Manyara National Park

We are staying in a village called Mto wa Mbu. Just on the outskirts of the town is a national park called Lake Manyara N.P. After breakfast, around 7:45 a.m., Norton drove us to the park.

The shallow alkaline lake, 240 square kilometres, takes up about 2/3 of the park and is surrounded by a rich diversity of habitats. The park is known for its dense elephant population, tree climbing lions (that we didn’t see) and troops of baboons.

At the entrance to the park, there is a canopy or tree top walk with a guide. We were booked to have this experience.

The guide, Musa, started by taking us on a short boardwalk that gradually rises from ground level up through the canopy of the forest. He told us about the trees we saw in the forest and their uses.

Then we walk over a series of swinging suspension bridges with thick netting on the sides, until we reached a height of 18m (60’) off the ground.
We were reminded to go ‘ Pole Pole’ or slowly slowly.

Each of the bridges ended on a viewing deck situated around tree trunks. These treetop platforms allowed us to stop and are perfect places to stop and observe life in the canopy. There were 10 bridges and 9 platforms.

During this walk the guide did a great job pointing out interesting facts about the Lake Manyara flora and fauna,. He told us that he helped build this walk. By the way, this is Tanzania's first Treetop Walkway and one of the longest in Africa. We really enjoyed it.

For the rest of the day, we drove through the park looking for new birds and spotting animals. A slightly tense moment happened when a male elephant that was intent on chasing a female, spotted us and was not happy with us interrupting his design on her. Norton quickly backed up the truck to give him space.

We saw hippos in the lake. Actually several pods.

And a Ground Hornbill bird who had caught a bat and ate it. It took a few attempts to get that big bat down his throat but he did it!

There were a lot of birds near the lake as well as lizards. Chris pointed out a big Monitor Lizard that was walking along the shore.

The giraffes in the park seemed to be a darker colour than others were had seen before.

Baboons were everywhere! There were huge family groupings and they are fun to watch. They are not at all afraid of the vehicles and walk right beside the truck.

Our drive to the Karatu Lodge took about an hour and we went steadily upwards. It is much cooler and greener here. Every lodge we have been to has been exceptionally clean with a small restaurant that serves us a lot of food that is presented with pride. Not eating it would be insulting, I think. We all feel that we have put on weight!Read more