Times in Tanzania: Lake Manyara National Park: Trip II

Ana taking in the views of flamingos.

I never want to take our proximity to world-class nature areas for granted, so this weekend we made the big trip to Lake Manyara (Trip I). While possible to do in a weekend, it does require a big effort driving. We left Moshi at 5pm on Friday and arrived to a small town just outside the park at around 830pm. We had actually planned to stop earlier and stay somewhere a half hour away but the guesthouse we like was uncharacteristically full. We did stop there and check and after hearing it was booked we decided we might as well eat dinner before heading on. Luckily the town outside the park has about a million guesthouses so we chose a decent one and went to sleep.

In the morning we had a nice breakfast of chapati, fried egg, and coffee. We checked into the park at 8am and began exploring the park. One of the cool things about Manarya is that it contains multiple ecological zones due to its skinny north/south orientation and the fact that it is neatly tucked between the massive Lake Manyara and the towering and escarpment of the Great Rift. You can always see one or both of these features from where you are in the park.

When you first start you weave through a jungle-like groundwater forest, which is a stark contrast to the grassland and dry acacia that dominates the landscape on the drive to the park. The landscape then breaks open into grassland bordering the lake, and a nice little road network allows you to drive through some puddles and flooded areas to reach a viewing platform.

The actual lake isn't so easy to view from the northern part of the park, but as bird watchers there is more than enough to keep us busy. The landscape is also impressive no matter what direction you are facing. We spent 2-3 hours in the first bit of the park just enjoying the birds and buffalo and wildebeest roaming about.

We then headed south through the acacia woodland, though there wasn't much to see as the heat of the day came on. We wanted to reach the mid-way point of the park where there is a campsite and accessible roads to the shoreline. Most of the lake shore is a strange contrast to the swamp north as it's dry with cracked mud and a very desolate looking feel.

When we reached the campsite we were absolutely enamored by the landscape. It felt a bit like Lake Natron to us and the distance and isolation felt massive. We could see thousands of flamingos and hear their incessant chatter as they fed. The sky felt huge, the lake endless, and the escarpment towered over us on one sid; it was truly a beautiful area and moment!

We thought our adventure was over as we planned to drive straight out of the park. But on our way back we saw a lone elephant a few meters from our car. What happened next was the closest and scariest elephant encounter we've had!