Exploring Deeper into Lake Manyara and a local School Visit

Having fun with the school kids, just outside the boundaries of Lake Manyara park. We had a wonderful walking tour of the village, medical center, and school with a local guide.

The hits just keep coming. We've followed cheetah in the Masai Mara, we've cheered on migrating wildebeest swimming across the Mara river in the Serengeti, and now we are living in tree houses, scanning the darkness for nocturnal creatures, and hanging with some of the friendliest kids around in Lake Manyara National Park.

Our guide, Aron, took us out on a relaxing drive in the morning. We added new birds to our list, and had our first good look at a mature bateleur eagle. We had rare barbets and fire finches, and lots of colorful kingfishers. We checked the area where we found the tree climbing lions the evening before, but they were nowhere to be found. Just a reminder of how lucky we were to see them at all. It is easy for animals to disappear into the dense bush here.

The real jewel of the morning was a guided walking tour of the nearby local village. We were able to walk and talk, and soak in what life was really like in the village. One interesting conversation occurred around the theme of birthdays, and what makes it special and out of the ordinary. For our guide, his answer was rice. He would hope for rice on his birthday, and if he got it, half the village would show up, hoping for some too. When you have peas, or mashed corn, and a can of anchovies to share as a family on the norm, then rice would sound pretty amazing. Puts everything in perspective though.

We ended up walking to a primary school, where young kids in their bright blue uniforms took stock of the new comers. Some waved, others said hello, other kept on playing soccer while glancing up between kicks. Soon a small crowd gathered, and the high fives started. Then the ice really broke when I jumped into the crowd and took a selfie. This started a trend and we ended up with some amazing memories and great photos. The tiniest kid, with the biggest smile, was named "Happy." I think Happy will always have a special place in our hearts after today. The kids left such a lasting mark on all of us, that we had long forgotten about dropping our cooler, filled with glass bottles, out the back of the land cruiser on the way into town, exploding glass in every direction. Nothing like cleaning up hundreds of broken glass pieces while looking out for lions to really bring you together.

The fun wasn't over yet. After an afternoon of massages, pool time, and catching up on editing photos, we met for a delicious dinner. The staff had prepared a special table for us, covered in flower petals and lit up by candles, away from the main dining area. We had to eat fast though, because we had a night drive heading out at 8pm sharp. We got to the waiting vehicle around 8:04pm, but then had to wait about 45 minutes for a ranger. Aparrantly he was being held up by some unruly elephants in the road. Maybe they had drunk up all the beer we had dropped on the road earlier.

The ranger finally arrive and we took off into the night. It was pretty slow until we got two lights going, then the eye shines came fast and furious. We ended up seeing 40 or 50 bushbabies, a couple of spotted genet, a white tailed mongoose, a marsh mongoose, and lots of different antelope. I do love exploring the nocturnal life here in Africa. You really never know what you might see.

A very early morning game drive took us out of the park to the airport the next morning. We ran across more lions, including the male who runs the whole park. He kicked out his parents, and now switches between the three prides inside the park. We made it in time for a nice breakfast at the airport, and then five quick flights took us to Kigali, Rwanda, where we hope to trek with mountain gorillas! More to come on that soon!

We visited a primary school in the village just outside of the park and met the most incredible kids. Their smiles were contagious. We had a great afternoon touring through the village and getting a better feel for what life is like here.

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A mature bateleur eagle flies between the branches.

Day 10 Gorillas (5 of 61).jpg A rare species of African firefinch in Lake Manyara National Park.

Day 10 Gorillas (4 of 61).jpg I never get tired of finding these colorful bee eaters. This is a little bee eater, although we did find a flock of migrating European bee eaters earlier in the drive.

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After spending much time in the plains of East Africa, it sure felt like a change of scenery looking up at this waterfall tumbling down the escarpment from a high elevation swamp on top.

Day 10 Gorillas (10 of 61).jpg We caught up with this male lion on our very early morning drive out of the park. He pretty much runs this park now, after kicking out his parents.

Day 10 Gorillas (9 of 61).jpg This impressive male lion has been through a lot, but now is the main breeding male for all the small prides within the park boundaries.

Greg, Sue, and Aron, smiling while looking back at some of the memories we made here over the past few days.

Me and our Lake Manyara guide, Aron, with a great photobomb by Greg.

Lake Manyara from the air. All of the grasslands are gone, the lower part of the forest has been inundated with water, so one road remains running the length of the park.

I didn't even try to count the numer of flower petals on the table for our last night private dinner by candlelight at Lake Manyara Tree Tops lodge.

And this is what your wake up call looks like in the wee hours of the morning here at Tree Tops lodge.

If you can make time for breakfast at the lodge, it is an experience all unto itself. Lattes, freshly made omlettes, and delicious fruit are just some of the offerings.

Sometimes the animals find you. Here a pride of lions naps on the side of the road, almost like they were awaiting our arrival.

Tree tops lodge has some very cool architecture, making you feel like you are up in a treehouse... well, maybe the fanciest tree house you can imagine.

Looking down from the common area at Tree Tops lodge.

This is the area we would often meet for drinks before dinner and discuss our next day's plan with our guide. Frozen gin and tonics where the special this day.

The food here is like a work of art.

This was our outdoor shower, with hot water, at the top level of our treehouse in Lake Manyara. I took a shower and looked up, and there were a couple of Manyara monkeys sitting on a nearby branch, looking at me.

This was a little traffic jam on our way to the village.

The outdoor dining area at Lake Manyara Tree Tops lodge.

Lake Manyara was our only chance to see really big baobob trees on our trip. They can be ancient, over a 1000 years old.

I love baobobs, but these beautiful purple Jacaranda trees are my favorite.

Sue and Greg, walking with our guide Shaloon, through the local village near lake Manyara.

This is how bricks are made here. You get clay, shape it in brick form, then build an oven out of them. Then you build a fire and let it burn underneath until all the clay bricks turn hard and red.