Travelogue Tanzania 2009
Programme Day 9 – Serengeti to Manyara National Park

The next morning we leave the hotel very early. The way back is long and we won’t have a lot of time to stop and look at things.

Only a few minutes from the hotel I spot a lion with pray. I am proud that I saw something Samuel did not see. But till Samuel stopped the car and turned around the lion has left and an eagle feeds from the lion’s pray.

And then, short before leaving the park we have a last high light: Samuel spots a female lion and follows her around a rock where an impressive male lion is waiting for her. He is really presenting himself as the lion king and we get some excellent pictures.

Serengeti - head of a male lion
A giant head appears from the grass.
Serengeti - a male lion and a lioness on a rock - she drinks from a puddle.
Well, seeing a female he only thinks about one thing. But she didn’t fancy his intentions.
Serengeti - a male lion standing on a rock
If this female is not in the mood for sex, let’s pose a bit. Maybe there’s another female around.

At the visitor center at the exit of the park we see a group of Africans who look excitedly into a tree. As I join them the show me a snake, about three meters long. I conclude that snakes are not that common in the region if one snake gets the attention of more than ten men.

Serengeti - a big snake in a tree
a big snake in a tree
Serengeti - rock python (?)
Probably a rock python, even if it’s hanging here in a tree. It’s all a question of camouflage 😉

Our next hotel is the Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge, with a nice garden. Both birds and squirrels have learned that around tourists you can always find food.

Manyara Nationalpark - bird with crumbs in its beak
bandit 1
Manyara Nationalpark - A squirrel got hold of a piece of bread or something similar.
bandit 2

After the long drive from Serengeti we will do our last game drive. Samuel is exhausted after a long week of driving and spotting animals for us. Therefore we start late and have little more than an hour in Lake Manyara National Park.

Lake Manyara National Park is totally different to the other parks we visited. Close to the entrance there is mainly ground water forest, a jungle whose water is coming down the surrounding mountains and does not need constant rains like rain forests.

We do not even get to the Lake Manyara. We drive through the forest, see lots of birds, spot a lion in a tree (the legend says that the Manyara region was the only on where lions climbed on trees before the lions of the other regions learned that) an spend some time at a hippo pool where we are actually allowed to leave the car a final time.

Manyara National Park - great tree
Manyara Nationalpark - small river
Manyara National Park - a sausage tree
a sausage tree
Manyara National Park - silver cheek hornbill
silver cheek hornbill
Manyara National Park - a big monkey enjoys getting deloused by a smaller monkey.
relaxing … not only a bit … Does anyone know the name of this monkey species?
Manyara National Park - a swarm of bees in a tree
wild bees
Manyara National Park - zebras crossing the hippo pools
zebras crossing the hippo pools
Manyara National Park - Zebras gallop past a hippo pool full of hippos.
water and dust

The end of our safari …

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