26 December 2014
Lake Manyara National Park is small, but interesting. The lake is a large saline lake in the rift valley, and is home to an amazing number and variety of birds, along with the usual animals. (We saw giraffes, zebras, buffalos, wildebeest, elephants, and ostriches all in one field/plain.) Because it is surrounded by largely unprotected lands, predators are minimal, and the wildlife feels more secure than in larger parks.
Lake Manyara is also known for its large baboon population.
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| Almost a scene from "Planet of the Apes". A huge troop of about 200 baboon crosses the plain. I would not want to stand in their way! It would take a panorama of 3 or 4 photos to show the whole troop. |
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| A closer look at the baboons. |
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| A very young baboon. |
Blue monkeys also inhabit this area, but they are very difficult to photograph.
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| The blue monkey has a very long tail. |
Any place with shallow water also has hippos.
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| The hippo pool was really more notable for its birds than its hippos. |
Two different views of an elephant:
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| Elephants have long eyelashes! |
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| As the years go by, elephant ears take a beating. Note the holes and ragged edges on this ear. |
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| There was one tree at Lake Manyara that I found particularly attractive and unusual. The guides called it "buffalo wood" (or at least that's my version of what they said), but I can't find any mention of such as species online or in my guide books. Any ideas? |
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| The tree itself has "muscular" branches that tangle and grow back together -- very interesting structure. |
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