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Home » Tanzania National Parks » Lake Manyara National Park Tanzania

Lake Manyara National Park Tanzania

Lake Manyara National Park is located in Tanzania which is found in the eastern region of the African continent along geographical co-ordinates of 3o30’S 36o00’E. Lake Manyara National Park s found in the in northern Tanzania and is sandwiched between the Serengeti plain in the north and Tarangire National Park in the south east. Lake Manyara is bordered by Kwakuchinja wildlife migration corridor in the east, this corridor aids the natural G- flow of wildlife between Tarangire National Park and the lake Manyara, Engura basin borders lake mayara to tits immediate north before the Serengeti plains take over then Marang forest reserve with a land coverage of 353999ha borders Lake Mayara National Park to the south.

Lake Manyara National Park Map
Lake Manyara National Park Map

Lake Manyara is an alkaline or salt lake due to its lack of river outflows. This lake is fed by several streams that get to drain their water from the adjacent Ngorongoro plains and also numerous underground streams. Lake Manyara is a very shallow lake and its deepest point is measured at around 3m or 10ft. due to its shallowness nature and alkalinity, most of its water evaporates in the dry season and its salinity increases tremendously as well but lake never completely dries out as it continues to be fed by the underground streams. This lake is visited by the majority of animals here that water to add the much-needed sodium mineral to their diet.

Lake Manyara National Park features many wildlife species and these include an array of wild game like the African elephant, plain zebras, leopards, cheetahs, lions, dik dik, masai giraffe, hippos, banded mongoose Thompson and grants gazelle, defassa waterbuck, blue monkey, rock hyrax, baboons, blue wildebeests and klipspringer. The national park is also a host to about 180 bird species which include southern ground hornbill, lilac breast roller, greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, marabou stock, pink backed pelican, palm nut vulture, yellow billed stock. Lake manyara is also home to a variety of about 670 plant life species which include a tall tree forest near the gate to the national park with tree species like ficus sychomorus, broad leaved croton, rauvolfia caffra, tabrnaemontona ventricosa, cyprus laevigatus and also a number of baobab trees dotted in the park

Lake manyara experiences a typical savannah climate with 2 rainfall seasons that come in the months of march-may with the longer and most of the annual rains and November- December with the shorter rains of the year. Annually lake manyara national park receives around 750-1000mm of rain. The average annual temperatures in Lake Manyara National Park are high with temperatures ranging between a minimum of 25oc annually and a maximum of about 32oc on average annually.

Conservation in Lake Manyara National Park began in the 1920s when the area was being used as a sport hunting ground, in 1957, the area was designated into a game reserve which was further elevated to the national park status in 1960 and in 1974, lake manyara was increased by 550ha to bring it to its current land size of about 325sqkm. It should be noted that the national park covers the north eastern quarter of lake manyara which spans to about 200sqkm.

Attractions in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania

Lake manyara national park has a numerous attraction and these include

Rock hyrax; The rock hyrax is also referred to rock badger or rock rabbit.  The rock hyrax is a brown fur coated medium sized animal that Is squat and well built with fully grown mature adults have a body length of 50cm or 20in or 4kg or 8.8ib that exhibits sexual dimorphism with males weighing slightly more than the females. This animal has a small pointed head, rounded ears, short neck, long black whiskers on their muzzles. This animal is small but you cant believe it that it is a far distant relative of the biggest land mammal on the planet the African bush elephant given it’s  pair of long incisors that are always a pleasant reminder to us about its far distant relatives the elephants with big and long incisors that have been transformed into tusks. The rock hyrax is a very social animal and they live quite large groups of between 10-80 individuals and its surprising as to how rock hyraxes and humans have something we share and that is the conformity to the general rule that a friend of my friend is my friend. The rock hyraxes are also territorial animals that will mark their territories excreting an odor at the boundaries of their territories. The rock hyrax mostly forages on plants like lobelia and broad-leaved plants. They also feed on insects and grabs. The rock hyrax has a gestation period of about 6-7 months after which its gives birth to babies with their eyes full open, the babies are weaned at 2.5 months and reach sexual maturity 1 and ½ years and will reach full maturity at 3years with a lifespan of about 10 years in their natural habitat. The rock hyrax are preyed on by reptilles like the rock python, Egyptian cobra, puff adder, leopards, cheetahs and many others.

African bush elephants; African elephants are the largest land mammals in the world with a male elephant weighing in at 4,700-6,048kg or 10,362-13,334Ib and a shoulder height of 3.2-4.0m or 10.5-13.1ft while their female counterparts weigh in at 2,160-3,232kg or 4,762-7,125Ib and a shoulder height of 2.2-2.6m or 7.2-8.5ft. these land giants have 24 teeth in their mouths and usually lose their teeth 4-6 times in their life time which lies between 60-70 years. What sets these land giants apart from the rest of crowd is their elongated tusks which are in fact their second set of incisors. This means that the tusks are very strong as they are used to up root trees and also as weapons they use while fighting. The tusks weigh between 23-45 kg or 55-99Ib with a length of 1.5-2.4m or 5-8 ft. elephants usually live in groups called families which comprise of 10 or more closely related females with their calves and each of these families is led by an older female called a matriarch. Elephants have the ability to distinguish and communicate with each other using low frequency infrasonic calls.  With a body mass that is compared to nothing else on land, African elephants have to feed on an average of 450 kg or 992Ib of foliage to sustain their huge bodies and also drink to over 50 liters of water per day. In fact, these elephants have the ability to smell water to up to 20 km or 12miles away. Elephants have an exposed skin so in order to control over heating of their body, they flap their big ears so as to carry away the heat or bathe in water ponds. It is believed that when an elephant flaps its ears, it can lose about 10oF of heat hence always staying cool even in the hottest temperatures. They also employ their elongated trunk to carry water and pour it over their ears to try and cool themselves. These land giants have very thin hairs around body parts such as eyes and noses and these are mainly for ensuring that germs and other bacteria don’t find it easy to enter the elephant’s body through these parts. The elephant trunk is a master piece of creation as it is equipped with 40000 muscles which is way more than an entire human body has at only 639 muscles. This makes the trunks a very strong and agile part of the elephant that can do many things. The elephant trunk is also used for breathing, snorkeling and also as an extended arm for holding, lifting or pushing anything they want to carry.  A female elephant reaches sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 years and can reproduce after every 3-6 years throughout its lifetime. All elephants have a very poor metabolism and that’s why they eat a lot of food but ¾ of it will come out of the elephants undigested as dung. Due to the poor metabolic system, elephant calves have been recorded doing something bizarre and that is eating dung that has been passed out by their mothers but this is all because elephant calves can’t process raw grass hence, they have to resort to eating pre-processed food that has been passed out as dung. They have a gestation period of up to 22 months being the longest in all land mammals. Just like humans and apes, elephants are also highly intelligent species with a brain that weighs about 5kg or 11Ib which about 4 times heavier than that of human making it the heaviest brain of any land mammal. With such a brain, these land giants are believed to exhibit character traits like grief, learning, sense of humor, compassion, self-awareness, a very strong and vivid memory, play and use of tools and possibly a language.

Leopards; Leopards are some of the big cat family predators that roam the plains of Lake Manyara National Park and they are at the top of the food chain together. Leopards are usually taken to be the same with cheetahs but they are completely different as cheetahs have tear marks on their faces small round spots while leopards have no this distinctive mark on their faces and have larger rosettes on their body. The skin color of leopards’ ranges from pale yellow to golden or yellowish brown with rosettes and this enables these super predators to camouflage so that they can stalk their prey without ever being noticed. Male leopards are muscular with short limbs and a broad head, the males have an average shoulder height of 60-70cm or 24-28in and weigh in at 37-90kg while the females have an average shoulder height of57-64cm or 22-25in and weigh in between26-60kg. the cheetah has a very long tail that’s white tipped with a length of 60-100cm or 24-39in and this enables the leopards make quick sharp turns at high speed while on a chase. Leopards can sometimes have black color and this is caused by melanism which is a recessive gene in these animals and when a leopard is having this phenomenon, it turns from being called a leopard to a black panther. Leopards are usually solitary animals and they have a gestation period of 90-105 days and can live in their natural habitat for 12-17 years.

Lions; These can be frequently sighted in Serengeti National Park. Lions are part of the big cate family and are muscular, deep chested with rounded heads. Most of the African lion males can distinguished from their females by the presence of a mane around the necks and heads of male African lions which is clearly absent in females but there quite many cases in Africa where the males also don’t have a mane or have a very short and thin one. The male lions are usually bigger than the females but their sizes vary according to location. In east Africa, adult female lions have a body length of 160-184cm or 63-72in weighing in at 119.5kg or 263Ib on average while the adult males have a body length of 184-208cm or 72-82in weighing in at 174.9kg or 386Ib on average. Lions are social animals who live in groups called prides. A pride is always led by a dominant male and their highly territorial animals controlling vast expanses that are strategic with a lot of prey and water. Male dominant lions are responsible for protecting the pride and they will fight off other male invaders, in case the dominant male is defeated by the invading lions, the victor lions will kill off all the cubs that are off springs to the defeated dominant male as a way of ending its blood lineage.  Lions are carnivores and are at the top of the food chain feeding on almost all browsers and grazers within their domain due to their ability to hunt as a pride and carry out well coordinated and planned attacks which enables them to take down prey that can even be between 2-4 times bigger than them such as zebras, elephants and buffaloes. Lions usually hunt at night because of their well-developed sense of sight especially at night where their vision is almost 6 times better than that of humans due to the presence of white patches around their eyes which enable them to absorb even the smallest amount of light available during the cover of darkness. Hunting among lions is an affair carried out by female lions mostly and juvenile males and when a kill has been made by the lionesses in a pride, it’s always the dominant male lion who will eat first up to his fill then the rest of the pride will feed on what has remained after the he has finished eating. They have a gestation period of 97 days and a life span of about 10-14 years.

Klipspringer; The klipspringer is another member of the antelope family that has a yellowish gray to reddish brown coat which gives it a perfect cormuflage from its predators. its coat is thick with hollow and brittle hairs that will usually stand when the animal is sick or it has heated up. The klipspringer has short spiky horns that measure 7.5-9cm or 3-3.5in. the klipspringer has a shoulder height of 43-60cm or 17-24in with a body length lying between 75-115cm or 30-45in weighing between 8-18kg or 18-40ib. this species can be identified from features such as pre-obital glands near the eyes, short ears with white lips and chin. The klipspringer is a true diurnal feeder that feed during day time and mainly feeds on young plants, fruits, and flowers, the grass is usually eaten during wet season. The klipspringers are monogamous animals that usually have one partner for a long time or even forever till one of them dies and they usually live close to each other a distance of less than 5m or 16ft from each other. The klipspringers have a gestation period of about 6 months after which a single calf is born. The calf mother will hide her calf in a dense vegetation for about 3 months while keeping watching out for predators together with her male companion. These calves are weaned after 4-5 months.[

Hippopotami; Hippos in Serengeti national park are commonly seen in Grumeti river in the north west of the park. Hippos are large animals only behind the African elephant that can weigh anywhere between 1300-1500kg or 2870-3310ib for both sexes. The hippos are semi aquatic as they both live on land and in water. Hippos are herbivores animals can come on land in the evening to graze, they can be easily identified basing on barrel shaped body, short legs and long muzzles or mouths, their body is hairless with a purplish gray to blue black color which is also thick about 2in or 6cm. due to lack of body hairs, hippos secret an element that is reddish orange to brown to act as a protective layer both from the scotching sun and bacterial infection. This phenomenon is referred to as “blood sweating” hippos have a very powerful jaw which can open as wide as 180o and its filled with monstrous teeth with their incisors growing up to 40cm or 1ft4in and canines growing up to 50cm or 1ft8in. despite their short legs and big sizes hippos can burst to 30km/hr in short distances. Hippos are highly territorial while in water but not on land, they have a gestation period of 243days and can live up to 40-50 years.

Wildebeest; The wildebeests are members of the antelope group and belong to the connochaetes genus. In east Africa they are 2 closely related wildebeests and that is the blue wildebeest and the black wildebeest but the blue wildebeest is the most common one in the Serengeti plains. These two species can be identified basing on few things like their coat colors and also on the nature of their horns, the blue wildebeest horns protrude to the side then curve downward before curving upwards as they come to an end, the horns of black wildebeests on the other hand curve forward first then downwards and finally upwards as they come to their tips. The blue wildebeests also bigger than the black wildebeests, the male blue wildebeests weigh about 250kg with a standing height of 150cm, female blue wildebeest stand at 135cm at the shoulders and weigh around 180kg while the male black wildebeest stand between 112-120cm at shoulder height and weigh 180kg and their female counterparts stand in at 108cm at the shoulders with a body weight of 155kg. these wildebeests are famous for their annual migration that takes place from June- august. This migration involves these animals to trek great distances about 1500 of kilometers as they cross from the southern Serengeti plains into the southern parts of the Maasai Mara reserve in southern in Kenya. This migration is majorly done following the rainfall season patterns in the east African region. During these migrations, the wildebeest organize themselves in large herds and trek in this group to areas of new pastures. These animals also show a high level of swarm intelligence as they perform similar function without anyone or anything dictating it to them for example, they can all decide to cross the river from the same spot regardless of whether it is infested with many predators like crocodiles or not.

Masai giraffe; Masai giraffe can be distinguished from other giraffe sub species from their star-like stamped patches which are irregular and become darker especially in males as they age. The Masai giraffe is generally brown in colour with several shades of colour which can range from dried oak to orange and cream. The lower parts of their limbs are sticky like or very skinny but the upper parts of these limbs are study so as to support their massive weight. The giraffes have a unique walking pattern where as they have the ability to move both the front and hind limbs of one side of the body at once and then counter balance it by moving their long neck in the opposite direction. The adult male giraffe has an average height of 4.3-5.7m or 14.1-18.7ft and weighs in at 1192kg or 2628ib while an adult female weighs in at 828kg or 1825ib hence showing sexual dimorphism amongst giraffes. The giraffe also has a long tongue that is measured at an average of 45cm or 18in and it has a purplish black color which is believed to protect it from sunburns. The massai giraffes have the longest tail among all land mammals which measures up to 3.3ft long. Due to their big body mass giraffes also have a massive heart that weighs up to 5ibs so as to pump 60 litres of blood needed to move around the giraffe’s body in just one minute.  Giraffes also have the ability to sleep while standing and even when they lie down, they will put their long neck on their hip. The Masai giraffe are completely herbivores and spend their biggest part of the day about 16-20 hours feeding so as to satisfy their big appetites. The giraffe has a gestation period of 14-15 months and the birth period is between 1-6 hours after which a single calf is born and the mother will give birth while standing hence the calf will have to be ready for a rough landing when it comes out. The calves are born almost ready to walk because it takes a calf between 20 minutes – 1 hour to start walking. Masai giraffes have a life span of up to 25 years in their natural habitat.

Grants gazelle; Grants gazelles. the grant gazelle has a beige orange on its back and a white belly, they also have lyre shaped horns that are stout at the base and have clear rings on the horns. These horns have a length of41-81cm or 18-32in. The grant gazelles live in short grassed plains so as to have clear visibility of predators which stalk them for prey. The female grant gazelle weighs 35-50kg or 77-110ib while the male gazelle weighs 50-80kg or 110-180ib with an average standing height of 75-95cm or 30-37in. Unlike most of the subspecies that graze towards or around water sources, the grant gazelles graze going further away from the water sources that are usually roamed by predators. The gazelles have adapted to live without water for long days and they get most of their water from the pasture they graze on. The gazelles are territorial animals and males herd territories with many females mainly for mating. Mature gazelles will settle conflicts with superiority displays hence physical interactions are quite rare among these animals. Grant gazelles reach sexual maturity at 18 months of age. The male gazelles will test by smelling on the urine of the female to ascertain whether she in oestrus and when the female is ready to mate, it lifts her tail signaling the male to mount her. These animals have a gestation period of 198days after which, a single fawn is usually born. The fawn is usually born while its still very weak and can’t move but it will be able to so in a few days’ time and it will follow the mother to the herd where it starts fraternizing with other fawns. The fawn is weaned after 6 months but might stay with the mother until it reaches adolescence.

Masai giraffe; Masai giraffe can be distinguished from other giraffe sub species from their star-like stamped patches which are irregular and become darker especially in males as they age. The Masai giraffe is generally brown in colour with several shades of colour which can range from dried oak to orange and cream. The lower parts of their limbs are sticky like or very skinny but the upper parts of these limbs are study so as to support their massive weight. The giraffes have a unique walking pattern where as they have the ability to move both the front and hind limbs of one side of the body at once and then counter balance it by moving their long neck in the opposite direction. The adult male giraffe has an average height of 4.3-5.7m or 14.1-18.7ft and weighs in at 1192kg or 2628ib while an adult female weighs in at 828kg or 1825ib hence showing sexual dimorphism amongst giraffes. The giraffe also has a long tongue that is measured at an average of 45cm or 18in and it has a purplish black color which is believed to protect it from sunburns. The massai giraffes have the longest tail among all land mammals which measures up to 3.3ft long. Due to their big body mass giraffes also have a massive heart that weighs up to 5ibs so as to pump 60 litres of blood needed to move around the giraffe’s body in just one minute.  Giraffes also have the ability to sleep while standing and even when they lie down, they will put their long neck on their hip. The Masai giraffe are completely herbivores and spend their biggest part of the day about 16-20 hours feeding so as to satisfy their big appetites. The giraffe has a gestation period of 14-15 months and the birth period is between 1-6 hours after which a single calf is born and the mother will give birth while standing hence the calf will have to be ready for a rough landing when it comes out. The calves are born almost ready to walk because it takes a calf between 20 minutes – 1 hour to start walking. Masai giraffes have a life span of up to 25 years in their natural habitat.

Dik dik; This is one of the smallest subspecies in the antelope group. The upper body part of the dik dik is gray brown while the lower parts including the belly, crest, flanks and legs are tan. The dik dik have an upright tuft that may sometime conceal the short ribbed horns in males which measure 7.6 or 3in. The dik dik have a shoulder height of about 30-40cm or 12-15.5in, a body length of 50-70cm or 19.5-27.5in and weigh between 3-6kg or 6.6-13.2ib. the name dik dik stems from the alarm calls mand by the females which is in addition to other sound calls mad by these animals which include a shrill and whistling. The dikdik are mainly monogamous animals that live in life long pairs within a territorial ground that has been marked out as a result fight among dik diks are quite rare though not ruled out completely. The dik dik reach sexual maturity 6 months for the females and the males 12 months. Females have a gestation period about 5 months after which it gives birth to a single calf weighing about 560-680g or 1.23-1.50ib for female calves while male calves weigh between 725-795g or 1.6-1.8ib, the mother will wean her calf after 6 weeks. The dik dik are mainly herbivores animals that eat shoots, fruits and berries.

More Attractions in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania ,Bird Species in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania

Tree species in Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Manyara National Park is home to 180 bird species and these include

Baobab tree; The baobab tree is scientifically refered to as adonsonia digitata tree but it is also commonly referred to as the bottle tree, the upside-down tree or the monkey breed tree. This tree is famous for its odd-looking nature where it has a very large trunk of 9-10mwhich can house about 40 fully grown people when it fully mature with a relatively short height of 5-20m. The baobab tree is named an upside-down tree because its branches look like roots pointing into the sky when all their leaves have fallen off and many oral African local theories have been put forward in a bid to explain this rather unique phenomena and these include one from tribes along the Zambezi river in which the local people believe that long time ago as the world was still young, the baobab tree were standing upright just like any other tree but the baobab tree grew bigger and bossed or bullied all the other trees around them, this in turn angered the gods who also decided to uproot the baobab tree and replanted it upside down hence gaining the upside down look from then up to today. The baobab tree has whitish flowers which open at night and their fruits can grow to about 1ft long. The fruits of the baobab tree are edible and can be sucked or soaked in water for flavoring and these fruits can also still be boiled to make a beverage like product which can be added on hot water for a quite interesting coffee taste. The baobab tree has an astonishingly long-life span and are believed to live for over 3000 years. One of the oldest baobab trees is believed to be 6000 years which makes it older than most of the Egyptian pyramids like the sphinx. The baobab tree has an amazing survival rate and it has the ability to survival destructive forces such as fires or stripping of its bark cannot kill this tree as it will just grow new bark and continue growing. The baobab tree has many uses and some of them include using its bark to make strings of musical instrument, ropes, water proof hats, baskets, mats and some local societies believe that when the leaves of the baobab tree are boiled and then the water is drunk, they can improve one’s fertility.

Other tree species here include the ficus sychomorus, broad leaved croton, rauvolfia caffra, tabrnaemontona ventricosa, cyprus laevigatus

southern ground hornbill; The southern ground hornbill is a distinctive bird that can be identified by its all black plumage and white flight feathers, with red bare face patches in males and violet and blue in females, their casqued bills and legs are also black. These birds are long 90-120cm or 34.5-50.8in, females weigh in about 2.2-4.6kg or 4.9-10.1ib and males come in heavier at 3.5-6.2kg or 7.7-13.7ib and the wing chord measures 49.5-61.8cm. these birds have a long life span lasting between 50-60years and as a result they take long to reach sexual maturity at 4-6 years only beginning to breed after 10 years of life. The southern ground hornbill exhibits a rather unique character when it comes to breeding where each breeding gets 2other non breeding birds to help them out when breeding as way of being mentored into the pros of having a successful brood, this has been carefully studied from bird under captivity where birds with less than 6years of being nest helpers may not be successful breeders when they start breeding on their own. These birds use hollows in very old trees as their nests. These birds live in groups that feed on reptiles like frogs snails insects and small mammals like hares.

lilac breast roller; This bird species has 28-30cm of body length with a streamered tail of 8cm more. It weighs about 87-135g. the male lilac breasted roller has aa whitish fore head and supercilia. This bird makes a loud guttural “rak-rak” voice call.

Greater flamingo; The greater flamingo has a plumage which is a white pink plumage with red wing coverts and black primary and secondary flight feathers. Their bills are mainly pink with a black strip at the tip and all pink legs. The juveniles are mainly grey with black legs. The adult greater flamingo has a body height of 110-150cm or 43-59in and weigh between 2-4kg or 4.4-8.8ib. these birds are usually found in flood plains with salt water from which they suck in water using their bills but a lot feed on shrimps, blue algae and seeds. In captivity, the flamingos in captivity can have a life span of over 50 years.

Lesser flamingo; The lesser flamingo is the smallest of the flamingo. This species is almost identical to the greater flamingo but the only difference will come at the extended black coloration on the bill of the lesser flamingo. The lesser flamingo has a body weight of 1.2-2.7 kg or 2.6-6.0ib and a body height of 80-90cm or 30-35in. both its wing span and body length are almost similar ranging between 90-105cm or 35-41in. their plumage is mostly a pinkish white coloration. These flamingos feed on spirulina algae that grows on alkaline water but they also fall prey to a number of animals such as marabou stocks baboons, African fish eagles, wild cats and African golden wolves.

Marabou stock; The marabou stock is a large bird that can be identified using its large size, bare head and neck, back and white underparts, it also has a huge bill with a pink gular sac on its throat. it has a body height of 152cm or 60in and it can weigh between 4.5-8kgor 9.9-17.6Ib. the marabou stock has a long bill measuring at 120-130cm or 47-51inand a matching wingspan of 3.7m or 12ft which is accepted as the largest wingspan in all living birds even bigger than that of the Andean condor but the average wing span of these birds is between 225-228cm or 7-9ft which I actually less than a foot in comparison to that of the Andean condor. This bird lays 2-3 eggs which it incubates for about 30 days. They attain sexual maturity after 3-4 years and have a life span of about 25 years in the natural habitat and about 41 years in captivity. Marabou stocks are scavenger birds and feed mainly on dead carcasses of any living thing so it can eat from decomposing materials to scraps and fecal matter and dead human bodies. The marabou stock has a bare head and this is an adaptation it has evolved to get so it can keep its head clean as it feeds from the inside parts of a carcass with ease as its head doesn’t get covered in blood as it would have been the case if it had feathers on its head. These birds are the cleaners of our environment as they can ingest carrion that no other living bird or mammal would feed on and as a result they easily be spotted hovering the sky above almost all towns in Africa as they feed on garbage accumulated by the large urban populations in African cities.

Pink backed pelican; This species of pelicans is quite smaller than other pelicans with a body length of 125-155cm or 49-61in. its wingspan is .15-2.9m or 7.1-9ft and it can weigh up to 4-7kg or 8.8-15.4ib. the pink backed pelican has a grey and white plumage that has a pinkish hue on its back. the bill of this pelican is 30-38cm or 12-15in and its yellow on top with a greyish pouch.

Palm nut vulture; palm vulture is an old-world vulture that is also referred to as the vulturine fish eagle. This bid is mainly white on its plumage but has black feathers on its wings and tail. It has red patches around the eyes. The palm nut vulture is the smallest of the old-world vultures weighing 1.3-3.7kg or 2.9-3.7ib and a body length of 60cm or 24in with a wing span of 150cm or 59in. both the female and male birds are almost similar except that the females are slightly larger than the males. Palm nut vultures take between 3-4 years to mature and have brown and yellow eye patches. These birds make their nests using small tree branches high up on trees. The palm nut vultures mainly feed on fresh fruit husks of palm oil, small reptiles, eggs and reptile hatchlings make it to this vulture’s diet as well as frogs, fish, locusts and small mammals.

Yellow billed stock; It is a medium-sized stork standing 90–105 cm (35–41 in) tall. The body is white with a short black tail that is glossed green and purple. The bill is deep yellow, slightly decurved at the end and has a rounder cross section. Feathers extend onto the head and neck just behind the eyes, with the face and forehead being covered by deep red skin. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the male is larger and has a slightly longer heavier bill. Males and females weigh approximately 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and 1.9 kg (4.2 lb) respectively. These storks walk with a high-stepped stalking gait. They have walking rate has been recorded as 70 steps per minute while on ground. They fly with alternating flaps and glides, with the speed of their flaps averaging 177–205 beats per minute. They usually flap their wings only for short journeys and often fly in a soaring and gliding motion over several kilometres. Their diet mainly consists of small fish weighing less than 1150g which they swallow whole and other small crustaceans, worms, insects and frogs and main also make an addition of small mammals in case they are available. When breeding, both the breeding birds will work together in nest building which can last for up to 10 days, then the female will lay between2-4 eggs which will be incubated by both the male and female birds for about 30 days after which the clutch will start to last for about days. The parents will look after the hatchling for about 50-60 days and after which the hatchlings will have matured and therefore will fledge away for the first time but will come back and continue to come back tobe looked after by their parents for an extra 1-3 weeks.

What to do at Lake Manyara National Park | Lake Manyara National Park Activities

Lake Manyara National Park is endowed with a multitude of attractions and as such offers an exciting package of activities that can be under taken while in this tropical natural paradise.

Game drivesWith a variety of abundant wild game and birds such as African elephant, plain zebras, leopards, cheetahs, lions, dik dik, masai giraffe, hippos, banded mongoose Thompson and grants gazelle, defassa waterbuck, blue monkey, rock hyrax, baboons, blue wildebeests and klipspringer, 180 bird species which include southern ground hornbill, lilac breast roller, greater flamingo, lesser flamingo, marabou stock, pink backed pelican,  palm nut vulture, yellow billed stock, lake manyara is place for you to experience an African game drive like nowhere else as you will definitely get to see many of these African jungle habitants dong their rounds mindlessly on the plains of lake Manyara.

Birding ;Gifted with over 180 recorded bird species, you are guaranteed of a thrilling birding encounter while in Lake Manyara National Park. Birds that you are likely to encounter here include the southern ground hornbill, lilac breasted roller, palm nut vulture, marabou stock, greater and lesser flamingos and yellow billed stock.

Nature walks; The nature walks here offer you an exciting way of having an experience of lake manyara from close range as you get off your 4×4 wheeler and stroll through the natural park and even get appreciate the small creatures that like dung beetles that work tirelessly to make this tropical gem the way you see it. For enthusiastic birders, nature walks are the way to go as you will be able to stealthily stalk and get close enough to many birds with the much disturbing revving of the 4×4 wheeler engine that will definitely inform the birds of your presence which they might not like so much hence take to off to the sky.

Cultural encountersAdjacent to the park within the Kwakuchinja wildlife migration corridor, lie the Maasai communities of Ol Tukai village, Esilalei village which will give you nothing short of a dramatic encounter with the ever pleasing and enchanting Maasai culture. From their cattle herding, milking and blood tapping skills, to their eye catching simple but on point cultural wear and body modification art work, to the sharp shooter Masai warriors and most definitely the grooving and rhythmic Masai dance all await you as you journey through these communities.

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Getting there

Accessing Lake Manyara national park in Tanzania

Lake Manyara National Park can be accessed by both road and air transport means

Road transport

Lake Manyara National Park lies about 126km or 78miles from the regional Arusha city and can easily be accessed via road, the road trip to Lake Manyara National Park lasts about 1.5-2 hours and is usually a favorite trip to make given the fact that Lake Manyara National Park is along the route to Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater.

Air transport

International flights to Tanzania can arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport which is about 46km or 26miles outside Arusha town or Julius Nyerere international airport located outside the Dar es salaam. From Kilimanjaro international airport you can take a domestic flight to Lake Manyara National Park and land on any of the airstrip and land at Lake Manyara Airport.

Where to stay in Lake Manyara National Park Tanzania – Lake Manyara National Park Tanzania Accommodation

Lake manyara national park offers you accommodation to suite your budget as it lodging facilities ranging from luxury/ up market to mid-range to low budget lodging facilities. Some of these lodges include the following

Escarpment luxury lodge;  Inside lake manyara park 1-minute walk to lake manyara, 16 guestrooms that come in single double and family occupancy, All rooons have a private bathrooms with both cold and hot showers, bath tubs and private terraces;  Restaurant, Lounge area , Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Coffee makers, Free wi-fii, Childrens pool, Laundry services. Price ranges around 300$

Lake manyara serena safari; Inside the park about 18-minute drive to lake manyara, 67 guestrooms that come in single, double and family occupancy,  All rooms come with a private bathroom with bold hot and cold shower; Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Coffee makers, Free wi-fii, Laundry services – Price ranges begin around 170$

Manyara wildlife safari camp; Inside the park about a 4 minute walk, 16 guestrooms that come in single and double occupancy, All guestrooms come with a private bathroom with both cold and hot shower and private terraces; Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Free wi-fii, Barbeque grill, Laundry services. Price for lodging range from 237$

The retreat at Ngorongoro;  Ngorongoro about 14-minute walk, 27 guestrooms are soundproof and come in a single, occupancy, All guestroms come with a private bathroom with both hot and cold shower and private terraces; Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Free wi-fii, Barbeque grill, Children pool, Laundry services. Price range is around 322$

Flamingo safari lodge; karatu about 10-minute walk to karatu playground, 27 guestrooms that come in a single double and family occupancy, All guestrooms come with a private bathroom with hot and cold  running water. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Free wi-fii, Barbeque grill, Children pool, Laundry services. price ranges from 120-230$

Farm dream lodge; Located in karatu a 14-minute drive, 48 guestrooms come in a single, double and family occupancy, All guestrooms come with a private bathroom with hot and cold  running water. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Free wi-fii, Barbeque grill, Children pool, Laundry services. Price range about 200-300$

Lake manyara wildlife lodge;  Inside the park about 1-minute drive to lake manyara, 26 guestrooms that come in single double and family occupancy, All guest rooms come with a private bathroom with both hot and cold showers. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Swimming pool, Free wi-fii, Laundry services. Price range around 237$

Migunga tented camp; Inside the park about 3-minute walk to lake manyara, 21- guestrooms that come single and double occupancy, All guestrooms with a private bathroom with hot and cold showers. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Free wi-fii. Price range around 225$

Frina buffalo lodge; Karatu about 20-minute walk to karatu playground. 5-guestrooms that come single double and family rooms, All guestrooms with a private bathroom with hot and cold showers. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Free wi-fii, Laundry services Price range from 25-51$

kasi tembo rest house ;  karatu about 20-minute walk to karatu playground. 10-guestrooms that come with a private bathroom with a both cold and cold showers. All guestrooms with a private bathroom with hot and cold showers. Restaurant, Lounge area, Outdoor, Well stocked bar, Free wi-fii, barbeque grill, terrace, Laundry services. price ranges around 55-93$

Tanzania Safari Holiday Tours, Tanzania Wildlife Safari Vacation, Wildlife Safari in Tanzania-Tanzania Safari tours

Tanzania safari: Interested in wildlife safari to Tanzania? The Tanzania safari hub is noted to have amazing wildlife in Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Arusha and Lake Manyara wildlife safari parks. Tanzania safaris take you is the largest country in East African community, 13th and 31st on the African continent and global scale respectively covering 947,303km2 featuring a coastline of 800km2.

We arrange the best Tanzania safari tours at the affordable Tanzania safari prices. We cusomise, your tour based on your Tanzania safari budget as witnessed by many of our Tanzania safari Tripadvisor satisfied clients. Enjoy a cheap Tanzania safari to Serengeti National Park, Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha National Park, Gombe National Park, Katavi National Park, Lake Manyara NP, Mahale Mountains NP, Mikumi National Park, Mkomazi National Park, Ruaha National Park, Ruaha National Park, Saadani National Park, Selous Game Reserve, Selous Game Reserve as well as to all popular Tanzania Wildlife safari national game reserves.

The geography of Tanzania is indeed amazing. The country features two extreme points on the African Continent including Africa’s highest point / altitude on Kilimanjaro Mountain 5,895m and the Africa’s lowest point in Lake Tanganyika 352m below sea level.

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