Blogs from Lake Manyara, North, Tanzania, Africa - page 2

After we left Tarangire we headed to our next park, Lake Manyara. To get there we drove thru the villages and towns that can be found between the two. This allowed to get a glimpse at the rural Tanzanian life. We drove past banana trees and fields of sesame. Small kids in the villages waved at us as we drove past. We saw women doing laundry in streams, men and boys herding goats and cattle, people on bikes caring huge containers of water from the local water source and women wearing colourful clothing carrying everything from buckets of water, bundles of sticks, baskets of produce or their daily shopping on their heads. It's an amazing skill. Almost immediately after entering this park we came upon a family of elephants eating in the trees. We stopped to ... read more

Part 1 I'm in a really cool tent. Like really really cool. It's a hotel room, but in a tent! There's loads of mosquitoes here so I have to be careful. Also, I didn't realise that I would be on a safari trip myself. I thought that I would be meeting up with other people. No wonder it was so expensive. My driver/guide is called Molel ( I don't actually know how to spell his name). He's quite nice. Anyway, the village that I'm staying in is called Mto wa Mbu - River of Mosquitoes. On my way to the Migunga Camp, I saw loads of cattles, goats and donkeys and little children were herding them. Those kids have to grow up so fast. The scenery here is definitely very different from home. As I'm writing ... read more

Day 6 We met after breakfast at the very civilised time of 8am. We had been expecting some early starts, so it made for a more leisurely ease into things. We changed places in the jeep today, which is standard practise on safaris so everyone gets a turn in each place. This meant it was our day at the font of the jeep. On our way out of the lodge, a small boy was trying to sell us a chameleon, which we debated whether just to buy and release further down the road. Our day started with a game drive in Lake Manyara NP. The park is approx 330sq km, of which 230km is the lake. The remainder is tall forest and woodland, and it is home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the ... read more

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. ... read more

Mit einem ziemlich klapprigen, gemieteten Fahrzeug fahren wir in den Lake Manyara-Nationalpark. Der verhältnismäßig kleine Park ist sehr schön zwischen dem Soda-See und den Hängen des Riftvalley gelegen, und teilweise gibt es dichte Vegetation. Berühmt ist der Park für die Löwen, die auf Bäume klettern, und wir bekommen auch tatsächlich einige Löwinnen zu sehen, die richtig faul in den Ästen hängen. Natürlich sehen wir auch Zebras, Antilopen, Gnus, Warzenschweine, Nilpferde, Giraffen, Elefanten, Horden von Paviannen und andere Affen. Auch Marabus gibt es hier viele. Auf der Fahrt aus dem Park hinaus treffen wir dann sogar auf einen weiteren Löwen, diesmal ein faules, anscheinend richtig vollgefressenes Männchen, das auch als wir mit dem Jeep sehr nahe kommen, keine Anstalten macht, aufzustehen.... read more