Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. Although Lake Manyara National Park is only 325 square kilometres...
...the shallow, alkaline lake covers the majority of this area. The land portion of the park is situated between the lake and the sheer rock walls of the Rift Valley escarpment above. The park is home to three distinct habitats including a lush groundwater forest, open floodplains and acacia woodlands.
Due to the variety of habitats the park is able to support a large number of species: more than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe at least a 100 of these in one day.
Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on the grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance. Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of the above mentioned legendary tree-climbing lions and tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages in their shade.
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