Tanzania 2013

Tanzania March 2013 - Day 5

Having recovered from the disappointment of finding that our flight had been cancelled and we'd been put on another one 4 hours and 40 minutes earlier we set off for Lake Manyara National Park. The sunrise over Lake Manyara as seen from our balcony was beautiful.

As a result of the change to our flight we didn't have much time in the park so made the most of it. First up were Blue Monkeys.

monkey

Blue Monkey

monkey

Blue Monkey

monkey

Blue Monkey

baboon

There were loads of Baboons around the place. Whilst they're not my favourite animal their antics can be funny.

baboon

Baboon

monkey

Black Faced Vervet Monkey

monkey

Black Faced Vervet Monkey

monkey

Black Faced Vervet Monkey

The Black Faced Vervet Monkeys (aka Blue-balled Monkey for obvious reasons - see above left) kept us entertained for a while.

monkey

This Mum and Baby Black Faced Vervet Monkeys were behind the truck so I've had to brighten the pictures up a bit so you can see what they're doing.

mongoose

Jonathon spotted this Dwarf Mongoose as we were driving along.

We saw the Elephant above on the way in and the one of the left (with a few friends) on the way out.

hippo

We were at the Hippo pool before they were up so first we had one, then two and finally a whole gang of them having breakfast.

hippo

I'm not sure whether it's just the camera angle or if the baby Hippo on the right is giving its Mum a good morning kiss.

The birds in the background are Black Crowned Night Heron.

heron

Black Crowned Night Heron

impala

Impala

The male Impala was keeping an eye on his harem. The Bushbuck was just passing through while we were watching the Vervet Monkeys.

bushbuck

Bushbuck

snail

I'm really pleased the snails don't grow to this size in our garden at home!

wagtail

We see these at home though - Pied Wagtail

prinia

Tawny Flank Prinia

kingfisher

Chestnut Bellied Kingfisher

kevin bird

Kevin to advise please!

Lake Manyara National Park is well known for its birdlife and Jonathon had a field day with his extra long lens and multiplier (and other such gadgets). We took a while to watch a whole variety of birds try to take some food from a group of Ground Hornbills - really interesting but I wouldn't have wanted to get in the middle of them!

fight

Ground Hornbills, Juvenile Bataleur Eagle and Palm Nut Vulture

fight

Four Ground Hornbills surround a Juvenile Bataleur Eagle - the Junior wins!

hornbills

Ground Hornbills

hornbill

When she wasn't fighting, this mother Ground Hornbill took time out to preen her chick.

hornbill

Grey Hornbill

hornbill

Silvery Cheeked Hornbill

fish eagle

African Fish Eagle

eagle

Steppe Eagle

eagle

Steppe Eagle

vulture

A Juvenile Bataleur Eagle, followed by a Palm Nut Vulture, chased by a Ground Hornbill

dinner

Dinner time and despite all the fighting between the birds above, the Maribou Storks and Vultures win the day.

view

Lake Manyara National Park is also known for being lush and green. It's kept that way because there are underground springs. The difference wasn't quite as marked as on earlier visits because some of the other areas had a green tinge to them as well from the recent rains.

All too soon we had to leave to drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport for our flight to Nairobi (first step towards home). We drove through various villages / towns and still enjoy seeing how different the shopping streets in the Tanzanian villages are to those at home.

For all family members who contributed to Jonathon's birthday / Christmas binoculars - they worked a treat and Kevin made as much use of them as we did. As we told him, we benefit if he spots things so it was no problem.

Finally, we had to say goodbye to Kevin but hope to go back again before too long. First stop Nairobi where we spent a good few hours but it gave us an opportunity to catch up on some of our photos, website creation etc so a good use of time (we'd still have preferred to be in LMNP for longer). Back to London with BA and home again.

P.S. - I've added a page of video clips - please click here if you'd like to have a look at them. Some of them should be X Rated so be warned!

Back to Holiday index