http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Tanzania , North , Lake Manyara en-us Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:47:37 BST Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:47:37 BST After extensive negotiations haggling over safari tour itineraries and making our way through the maze of shady tour operators we finally landed on a company that allowed us to make our own itinerary. We rented a 4WD Land Cruiser and guide named Audi for 6 days to explore Lake Manyara Ngorogoro crater and the Serengeti. This country is amazing and lived up to our expectations. Every scene was http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-286060.html Greetings from TanzaniaWe have just returned from the Safari that we took at NgorogoroCrater. My feelings are mixed about the whole thing. First off theSafari itself was amazing. We were able to see so many animals that Ihad seen previously only in zoos. We also got lucky and saw all of theBig Five animals lion buffalo leopard elephant and rhino.Although it was so amazing to see all of th http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-280413.html Today was a LONG day I had some really crazy dreams and I felt weird when I woke up so I didn't eat much for breakfast. We walked a short way down te road to Zainab's orphanage that she startd the Shalom Centerhome to about 40 kids almost all orphans and some with AIDS. I felt kind of awkward there at first because it isn't a school at least not formally so I didn't know if English was http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-280411.html Prior to returning to Moshi from the safari on Sunday we had the opportunity to meet the kids at the Shalom Orphanage Centre which was just down the street from the hotel in which we were staying. Upon meeting the kids we got to play games sing songs and run around. When I walked into the orphanage one kid ran up to me and grabbed my hand. This was obviously normal. The young children we hav http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-280408.html Finally Lake Manyara and again a great safari in this huge parc. We saw lots of rhinoceros birds pelicans spending the winter here instead of Alsace. Much nicer I admit. We saw my favorite animal the dik dik impalas buffaloes and finally we met our challenge of the Big Five. Big five Rhinoceros lion jida leopard buffaloWe saw a leopard hard to see in one's life. They are mostly hidden http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-256633.html In the morning we drove to through the park and saw a lot more monkeys as it was heavily forested in places. It was very lush and green and pretty and it was on the edge very high cliffs that went on forever and was known as the Great Rift which runs all the way up into Kenya forming the Great Rift Valley. We went back to the lodge and had lunch before driving back to Arusha. We got home around http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-255850.html Joseph our safari guide picked us up at the Key's Hotel after breakfast and we departed for our first day of safari at 830am. In the truck were the four of us and Joseph. We asked how many more people would we be picking up We were amazed when he said this was it We would be getting our own semiprivate safari for a week. We get along with Kim and Steve very well and were excited they w http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-255752.html We found Elephants Yesterday at Ngorongoro Crater we saw one or two elephants REALLY far away and no Giraffes. Our guide told us Lake Manyara is the place and sure enough we drove in the park and saw fresh elephant remains immediately followed by elephants everywhere. The best was the baby elephant that was just learning to walk. It would take a couple steps and face plant into the dust. Here http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-197124.html LAKE MANYARA ANIMAL PHOTOSWe just wanted to share a few of our pictures with you from our venture out to lake Manyara this last week. As we traveled towards mtu wa Mbo... Lake Manyara is just a little past the church building.... the National Park there is actually the nearest clean flush toilet around the area. which reminds me I have a funny story to tell about that particular bathroom and a http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-92373.html Lake ManyaraLake Manyara is the only place in Eastern Africa with lions that fall asleep in trees. While we were not privileged enough to witness this phenomenon we did see lions baboons more monkeys elephants hippos zebras gazelles giraffes and many new birds. So it was good fun and a pretty low key end to our last safari. The lake Manyara area is quite affluent and fertile. There is lots http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-43616.html our new driver seemed quite sober and was able to drive between the lines. We had a speedy game drive around lake manyara. It was a brief but nice visit and we spent some time watching the elephants for a while.We headed off to the serengeti and stopped at a rest centre to use the washroom. Just behind the washroom I noticed a few people standing and looking into the bushes. I took a closer lo http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-35973.html 7 Dec 2005 WednesdayToday we continued our animal watching adventure at Lake Manyara. It is really dry here so the lake is way down. People may start starving soon if they donrsquot get rain for their crops. It is so dusty that every plant house person within 10 feet of the road looks brown. You think all of the plants are dead they are so brown but upon inspection they are just covered http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-33127.html Greetings from the African Jungles It's been a while since our last update...mainly due to spotty internet connections in the middle of the jungle...imagine thatSo this update's gonna be a quick one just to give you a flavour of what's happened since we last wrote Rafting on the River Nile an unforgettable experience as we rafted swam drowned etc. down the Class FIVE rapids of the Rive http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-20831.html We left the next morning on Safari our guide didn't seem to speak as good English as we were promised David but he did seem to be a sweet guy who would be a good guide. This turned out to be true but there were also some problems ahead. The first day of our Safari was at Lake Manyara. We got there late morning and as soon as we entered the park we saw 3 Elephants two adults and a baby cro http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Tanzania/North/Lake-Manyara/blog-4955.html