The lake sits on the East Africa rift zone. The continent of Africa is very slowly splitting apart. The eastern twenty percent of the continent may separate from the rest just as Madagascar did 90 or so million years ago, or not, if the rift fails to open further.
Near the park entrance, the roads are the same red, crushed basalt we had been seeing elsewhere. The southern part of the park is different. The soil and roads are sandy.
Away from the lake to the west, the park is bounded by a long, steep igneous escarpment created by the rifting. The part of this wall near the lodge is plutonic as opposed to volcanic. Magma rose from the earth’s mantle because of the thinning of the crust caused by the rifting, but didn’t erupt in volcanic fashion, but instead slowly cooled deep within the crust, forming granite. The pluton reached the surface after the overlying rock was eroded away. Later, a huge section of the pluton broke away and littered much of the lakeshore with huge boulders. Sand, the ultimate erosion product, is the end result of the granite breakdown.
Hot springs, another manifestation of crustal thinning, are present along this part of the lakeshore. On the way back to the lodge for lunch, we saw two klipspringers, little gazelles that spring from rock to rock, well suited to this boulder strewn area.
After lunch, some of us hit the lodge’s swimming pool before the afternoon excursion. We saw some elephants and several sausage trees which have large, heavy, grey sausage shaped fruits, hence the name. Around the lodge the mahogany trees dominate, and their wood is used for much of the local construction including the decks at the cabins. The northern part of the park has lots of baobab trees. They have giant, soft wood trunks and a rounded crown. The guides say you can estimate the age of these trees by joining hands and forming a circle around the tree to measure them in people units. Each person equals a century of growth.
The afternoon drive ended on the beach by the lake where a local church choir gave us a concert of Swahili Christmas songs with dances. We reciprocated with a pathetic version of “Jingle Bells”, part of one verse of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and Maggie, our singer, did “Hallelujah” and the rest of joined in on the chorus. The lodge staff provided food, and we later made a donation to the church for musical instruments. On the way back to the camp, we were soaked by a hard rain.
After dinner at the lodge, Anna, Joe and Lucy were tapped by the camp staff to judge a ‘Manyara’s Got Talent’ contest, and Judy was the MC. We did a very impromptu version of some of “New York, New York” after all the contestants performed. The acts were mostly parodies, but were all done with enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the one word that describes all the staff and all the lodges we stayed at in Tanzania. Judy and I have been to lots of hotels and resorts in many countries, but have never seen as much enthusiasm as we see here.
Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.
Our tree house, the stuff over the bed is mosquito netting lowered at night.
Many many many flamingoes.
Zebras and flamingoes.
Tanzanian monarchs.
Little Bee Eater.
Flamingoes on the move.
Lion at siesta.
Giraffe, check out the eyelashes.
Klipspringer is a small antelope that lives among boulders as habitat.
Hamerkop has a big crest on the back of the head that he isn't showing.
Brown-Hooded Kingfisher.
Elephants working on the grass.
Rainstorm on the way.
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