Lake Manyara in Tanzania

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Lake Manyara is a lovely area, and the perfect place to start serious safari. There is plenty to see in this lake region! Tanzania's national animal is the giraffe, and they are EVERYWHERE, which suits me fine since they are my very favorite. I've seen them in zoos, but nothing compares to giraffes in the wild. The Maasai giraffe is the national symbol of Tanzania and it is much darker than the other subspecies. The pattern is also a bit different, almost more geometrical than spotted. They are the epitome of gracefulness, and they seem gracious about allowing one close to take photos. Ah. So beautiful!

Lake Manyara has its share of elephants! They, too, are everywhere. Some of them have incredibly huge tusks. Unlike the Indian elephant, the African elephants, male and female, have tusks. We've seen tons of elephants! Very close!

Bird life is spectacular...it is the time of year for Yellow Stork breeding, so they are all over the place, making a lot of noise. HUGE bird.

We met a nice couple at our lodge which was lovely. I came down with some sort of sore throat and fever, so I took off an afternoon of game driving. I hate doing that! It is like diving, I just hate to miss it, you never know what you might see!

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