Lake Manyara, Tanzania

                                                                                         

Ernest Hemingway once referred to Lake Manyara as the most beautiful place in Africa. This subjective comment may or may not be true but once you have seen it you will agree that it is incredibly beautiful as too, are the many animals and birds that can be seen there.

Alone its situation determines its wonder. The enormous African Rift Valley stretches from the Arabian peninsula to its southernmost point in Zambia and its East African section in Tanzania imposes a majestic background to the lake which is nestled three hundred meters below the chameleon like escarpment that rises sharply up to twelve hundred meters above sea level. Chameleon like because at different heights and in different seasons the vegetation displays not only different hues, shades of deep green, brown and yellow but also the rock itself acts as a kaleidoscope throughout the entire day at the mercy of the migratory sun.

The escarpment at this point acts as a climatic border promoting bands of vegetation that change dramatically over short east-west distances. Strips of Mother Nature's earth which range from rich green groundwater forests through grassy acacia woods onto scrubby bush land which opens up to yellow savannah grasslands that border the sometimes grey, sometimes deep blue, natrium flavoured lake.

It is not the escarpment itself that is accountable for the climatic border but the crater highlands which seem to perch on the plateau that runs back from the edge of the escarpment and finally gives way to the masses of the inactive volcanoes Oldeani and Ngorongoro. At 3070m and 2512m respectively they form a wall to the east trade winds which bring long rains for four months of the year on which the montane, ground water forests, that closely resemble rain forests, thrive. Thus a green stripe crowns much of the area and only kilometres to the east in the lower flatlands at Lake Manyara, and on to the Maasai Steppe, savannah grasslands are home to Africa's wildest game.

What makes this area so wonderful is not just the vast abundance of various creatures, including over four hundred bird species, but how you experience them. As you travel along the western side of the lake up to the escarpment wall, your eyes consume that multitude of variety in vegetation, colour and landscape, and you see, interspersed in this impressive flora is the African fauna that everyone dreams to see in its natural habitat. Leopards lurking in the bush, lions uncharacteristically lying in trees, impala cautiously browsing between the shade providing acacia and zebra accompanying gnus along the lakeside. Four of the big five reside in Lake Manyara National Park and every curve in the flat sandy road hides the next surprise.

Visit Lake Manyara National Park and go home with not just a pleasant memory, return satisfied, fulfilled, and in the knowledge that a piece of Africa has been preserved forever, both where it belongs and in your heart.

About the author:
At 20 Kevin Mahoney travelled across Africa and learnt that the poorest people can be happy and generous. Then came career and family. At 50 he returned to Africa and his love was rekindled. His wife and children helped him realise his dream, running a safari lodge, the profits of which finance aid projects in Tanzania.

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