Magnificent Manyara

Magnificent Manyara

There are over 200 fresh water lakes of varying sizes in Africa. Lake Manyara is one of the prettiest and according to Hemingway is ‘the loveliest [setting] ... in Africa'. It is also one of the most diverse with a grassy floodplain ringing the lakeshore, a towering rock escarpment, acacia woodlands and lush groundwater forests and the lake itself providing a variety of habitats for a corresponding variety of bird and animal life.

The name Manyara comes from the word emanyara which is the name in the local Maasai tongue of a euphorbia species that is grown into a hedge around a family homestead (Euphorbia tirucalli). As far as the national park is concerned this refers to the escarpment that fringes the western shores of the lake and adds to the diversity of the habitat. The park itself is around 330 000 hectares, much of this covered by the lake. Measuring 50km from north to south and covering approximately 200 000 hectares the lake is fed by several perennial rivers and is the focal point of the park. Being without an outlet and having an average depth of less than a metre, the rays of the sun ensure that Lake Manyara is unusually saline. Far from being a negative feature, the salinity of the lake is in fact a boon and the principle cause of attraction for thousands of pelicans and other water birds and up to a million flamingos in some years. Some of the other features of the park are the impressive groundwater forest, where one can expect to see the Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Bushbuck and various primates, the floodplain, with its ever-attendant Wildebeest and Buffalo, and the acacia woodlands, where one may see Zebra, Defassa Waterbuck, Impala, Warthog, Giraffe and even Kirk's Dikdik.

Manyara is justifiably well-known as a birding Mecca, but it was Iain Douglas-Hamilton's ground breaking Elephant research in the 1960s and 1970s that bough the park world renown and even today these enormous creatures are certainly one of the more prominent features. George Schaller also brought the reserve's tree-climbing Lions to the world's attention and aside from this unusual quality in its Lions, Manyara is today well known for its high density of Olive Baboons and strange Klipspringer population where even some of the females grow horns. All of these have been studied and written about in andBEYOND's Ecological Journal and the company has for a number of years operated the only lodge situated within Lake Manyara National Park. This was known as Maji Moto, but as of 16 December 2002 a new incarnation of the lodge - Lake Manyara Tree Lodge - opened on a new site in a Mahogany forest in the remote south west of the park. Disturbance in the area is minimal and during its construction the proud boast of the company was that ‘not a single tree was felled'. The lodge consists of ten stilted tree houses and continues to operate with the same renowned team of staff.

-Chris Roche-

Posted: Other by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006