Lake Manyara National Park spans an area of 330 sq km (127 sq miles) in northern Tanzania, 200 sq ml and is a lake when water levels are high enough. The entrance gate lies 1.5 hours (126km/80 miles) west of Arusha along a newly surfaced road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.

The compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.

From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like swamp forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows, and outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously in the high canopy.
Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain with its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes.

Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.

Inland from the floodplain, a narrow belt of Acacia woodland is the favored haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the Acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forage in their shade

Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of the park.
 

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 water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.
The Maasai live in the semi-arid Rift Valley region of Kenya and Tanzania.

 They own large herds of cattle, sheep and goats which they follow around seasonally in search of new grazing grounds and water sources.

Traditionally the Maasai have always been a proud and independent tribe. They did not cultivate the land and depend on a cash economy as many of those around them did, but rather they lived off the blood, milk and meat that their cattle provided them.

Cattle plays a central role in the life of the Maasai. Cattle represent food and power; the more cattle a Maasai has, the richer he is and therefore the more power and influence he will have within his tribe.
 

These days the Maasai have a more mixed diet as they have been forced to settle into ever decreasing areas of land and had to adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle which in some cases includes growing or buying cultivated food.

Traditionally the Maasai have always looked down upon those who tilled the land since this rendered it useless for grazing. While the Maasai lifestyle has undergone some changes in the past three decades in particular, their strong social traditions remain intact. Maasai men are first and foremost warriors they protect their tribe, their cattle and their grazing lands.

Often standing over 6ft tall the Maasai warrior with his beaded hair , red checked blanket and balled club he looks both fierce and beautiful.

Maasai boys go through a Circumcisions Ceremony at the age of 14 and then traditionally spend up to 8 years looking after livestock far from their villages. They become warriors upon their return to the village to get married. The Maasai women are responsible for all domestic tasks which include making their homes. Houses are made from mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and urine.

   

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