Day 11: Moshi to Lake Manyara
As we learned yesterday, the Safari Adventure phase of our trip begins at 7am in the hotel lobby. Having packed everything up last night, we headed downstairs to grab an early breakfast at 6:30am and prepared to meet our guides. James and Ari are not staying for this portion of the trip and so we said our goodbyes — they will chill at the hotel for a while and head off to the airport later this afternoon.
Our Ultimate Kilimanjaro safari guides (and drivers) for the next six days are Juma and Aidano. They gave us a quick rundown on the day’s plan, helped us load our bags, and we were off. Because there are eight of us, we split into two Toyota Land Cruisers. Matt, Jo, Cordwood, and Lily in one, and Adam, Emily, Aaron, and Melanie in the other.
The safari crew (Aidano on the left, Juma on the right)
We drove out of Moshi, through Arusha and toward Lake Manyara. The drive took about 4 hours with a bathroom/gift shop stop half way. We bought four little soapstone animals to turn into Christmas ornaments. We were also introduced to the ubiquitous “Tanzanite Experience” signage along the road (aka. The Wall Drug of Tanzania).
Safari Day 1 drive (detail)
Just before arriving at the gate of Lake Manyara National Park, we saw our first official safari animals — a few Savannah Baboons on the side of the road. We thought that was pretty cool, but that was just the welcoming committee. In order to officially enter the park, our guides needed to make a brief stop and take care of the permits and paperwork.
Quick permit stop outside Lake Manyara
Good time for an ice cream break
Well, well, well… where have we seen these wrappers before?!?
With permits acquired, we began our official game drive began thru Lake Manyara National Park. We popped the roofs on the Land Cruisers for the first time and were able to stand up and get excellent 360-degree views. The first views included lots and lots of monkeys — or Savannah Baboons to be more specific.
Why the sad face, baboon? (It’s a shadow from the grass)
After we stopped “monkeying-around” for a while (yes, thank you, we’ll be here all week, remember to tip your waitstaff), we stopped at a lovely picnic area that looked out over the lake. The menu was similar to our Kilimanjaro meals — rice, vegetables, fries, watermelon, and tropical juices. Still delicious!
Because they bite
Ultimate Kilimanjaro still busting out the heavy duty tableware
After lunch, Juma and Aidano took us back onto the roads in the park for another couple hours. We saw a bunch more Savannah Baboons, a Bushback, Blue Monkeys, African elephants, and a few zebras. African elephants can be identified in two ways: one, because their ears look like the shape of Africa, and two, we saw them in Africa.
Black faced monkeys. Remember, they bite
Zebra checking out the shoreline of Lake Manyara
Is this a Selelephantie?
Elephant family taking an afternoon stroll
Another Selelephantie
Other animals we saw include: Impala, Egret, Black faced monkey, Fish eater bird, Banded mongoose, Heron, Agama Lizard, and a Silver-cheeked hornbill. One animal we did NOT see was the Tree-Climbing Lion, despite the fact that the Lake Manyara National Park tagline is literally “Home of the Tree-Climbing Lions”. Alas.
Impala
Heron
After our loop thru the National Park was finished, we left and followed the road up the nearby Mto wa Mbu escarpment (aka. big cliff to the north of Lake Manyara National Park) to our lodging destination — the Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge. We checked in, and were assigned our rooms inside circular, double-story rondavels (traditional circular buildings with conical thatched roofs) that had a great cliff-side views of the Lake. Each room had a different animal key/name.
Heron Room #3 is at the verrry end of the path
Lovely hand-woven decor inspired by Maasai designs
Found more wildlife
But there was plenty of daylight left, so we quickly reconvened at the pool to relax. We were informed there was entertainment at the pool at 6PM. Sure enough, there was music, dancing, and acrobatics. It was an impressive show, especially since they were performing on the rocks by the pool.
Where’s the pool?
We should go there!!
Lake Manyara infinity pool
Poolside entertainment
After the poolside entertainment, we all went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. The restaurant was packed and we were led to our table. It seemed like there might have been a large Chinese conference/tour group on site. The electricity went out a few times, but we were comically prepared with our own trusty lantern! Plus, the lights only stayed out for a couple of minutes. We took our time enjoying the many items in the buffet, including a Nelson salad – the same type of salad our Mt. Kilimanjaro server, Nelson would give us. After we couldn’t eat any more, we went back to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow we head to the Serengeti.
Emily is here… group photography skills upgraded
