Africa is blessed with epic lakes — Tanganyika is the world’s second deepest; all the Rift Lakes are gigantic stunners, and Lake Victoria is a massive and complex inland sea. But many, including Ernest Hemingway, consider the smaller gem of Lake Manyara — with its diamond-white alkali rim, its million or so coral-coloured flamingos, and the deep sapphire waters at its centre — the loveliest of all.
The lake is a birder’s heaven (it’s frequented by 300 migratory avians), and the water from its Crater Highlands-supplied springs makes it a forested redoubt for all the most glamourous large mammals, including the famed Manyara tree-climbing lions (it’s a little irreverent, but tree-lounging might be a better description).
If you’ve seen Out of Africa (if not: you owe it to yourself) you’re familiar with Lake Manyara. It’s the lake that Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen fly over in a biplane, the lake that heart-thumpingly seems to burst into life, when tens — hundreds! — of thousands of flamingos lift from its waters
How did the hippopotamus find its way up into the Crater Highlands, to blunder into the water of Ngorongoro? Today one sees them there with wonder, encircled by steep walls….
Ngorongoro
Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate.
East Africa, Tanzania
Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate.
East Africa, Tanzania
Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate.
PLAN A CUSTOM SAFARI
Receive the latest news and updates from our safaris to learn more about each destination, our conservation efforts and more.
