Lake Manyara National Park
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”. Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s
birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor
to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day.
Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their
perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds
such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.
Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to pay this park a
visit. The only kind of their species in the world, they make the ancient mahogany and elegant
acacias their home during the rainy season, and are a well-known but rather rare feature of
the northern park. In addition to the lions, the national park is also home to the
largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world -- a fact that makes for
interesting game viewing of large families of the primates.
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