A restful night sleep and a hearty breakfast at Serena Losge consumed, we hit the road early again for our exploration of Lake Manyara National Park – famous for its tree climbing lions. While we didn’t succeed in spotting the big cats in trees, we did encounter a couple drying out from the overnight rains in the sun. So close to the oath indeed, we almost missed them.
Lions aside, this park showed us a plethora of birds that create the most amazing cacophony of sounds. At every turn, we spotted something new. From tiny ones to the largest eagle species on the planet, we saw sooooo much colorful diversity. Simply amazing!
Marshall eagle
Ground hornbill
Grey Crowned Crane
While the sun peeked through at times, rain was never far which brought out so many animals from their hiding places in the thick bushes and trees. It was a show-stopper of a day to say the least.
Our home for the night was Serena Lodge, perched above the rift valley that created lake Manyara. It is in fact our second rift valley visit this year, after Iceland (where the European and American continental plates drift apart). Here it is the African and Arabian plates that separate at about an inch per year.
Stay tuned for more adventures as we explore Ngorogoro Crater tomorrow.
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