Lake Manyara National Park, May 31, 2024, Dave B

Lake Manyara and Rift Valley overlook

Lake Manyara National Park

Outbound to Iringa, May 31, 2024,
By: Dave B

We awakened to an overcast morning in the Heart and Soul Lodge near Manyara with spectacular views of the surrounding Ngorongoro Crater Volcanic Highlands and the Western Escarpment of the East African Rift System (EARS). This portion of EARS in Tanzania, East Africa is the eastern branch of the ~6000 km rift system, a world-famous geological feature on a whole Earth scale.

Breakfast at Heart and Soul

Our breakfast was taken in the stunning dining area of the lodge with beautiful views of the escarpment and the surrounding terrain. 

Our drive down the escarpment road, to the day's destination of Lake Manyara National Park, was no easier than the ride up on one of the world's most challenging public roads. This morning’s journey was complicated by a significant breakdown, under repair, in the center of a particularly challenging stretch. The broken bus had been stranded overnight and was a big obstacle to traffic.

We journeyed down the Rift escarpment to Lake Manyara National Park and its busy entry/exit gate.

Lake Manyara NP Entrance Gate

Lake Manyara National Park was designated in 1974 and lies below the west escarpment of the Gregory Rift (Eastern Rift Valley) of the EARS. Most of the park is on the flood plain of the lake where a spring fed, dense forest hosts diverse flora and fauna. The lake’s area and shoreline changes significantly from wet to dry times and unusual volcanic rocks of the rift escarpment provide abundant soda (sodium), in ground water discharge, to the lake. During dry, high evaporation times high salinity and alkalinity (9.5 pH!) make the lake water inhospitable to most typical lake organisms. A few types (low diversity) of photosynthetic micro-organisms occur in great abundance though and result in very high biological productivity, like many other saline and alkaline lakes common throughout the EARS. Flamingoes periodically occur in great abundance on Lake Manyara supported by the water to the lake.

The forest we drove through hosted a few baobab trees with leaves! unlike those we’ve seen so far in Tanzania. Mahogany is one of the indigenous trees of the dense Lake Manyara forest.

Sightseeing: Although the park had many visitors, we were able to travel easily on the park roads. We saw many dense forest creatures especially monkeys; blue, vervet and many baboons. 

Baboons right by (and on) the road

We also saw dik dik, warthog and water buck in the dense forest. The inevitable zebras were sighted in forest openings and a monitor lizard slithered along the lakeshore. [Note: Our plans to continue down the lakeshore were interrupted. The safari drivers keep in contact with each other by radio. Our driver heard that another vehicle up ahead of us had just had its rear view mirror knocked off by a bull elephant with an attitude. Thinking of our elephant experience in Ruaha on May 28, we did a U-turn and didn't continue down that road.]  Not long afterwards, a troop of magnificent [female] elephants walking right next to us on the road was the real highlight for animal sightings for the day.  

We ended the day with a visit to the Safariland shopping center and tanzanite tour on the way back from Lake Manyara. Much business was transacted by our enthusiastic shoppers!

 

Safariland - every souvenir you could want, good quality

In Friendship and Peace