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Most people tend to just visit the park for a couple of hours during the middle of the day, but for those who stay inside the park overnight, either in the one luxury lodge, Manyara Tree Camp, or at one of the private campsites, there is a much deeper and worthwhile experience to be had here.
The main reason for its recognition as a national park is its 'groundwater forest'. Almost all the rain in this region falls on the Ngorongoro Highlands above Lake Manyara. This water permeates down through the rock until it meets the fault of the Rift Escarpment, where it is forced upwards towards the surface along the foot of the escarpment. The forest is therefore watered from below all year round and whilst the rest of the landscape turns yellow as the dry season progresses, Manyara remains an oasis of greenery, which acts as a magnet for animal populations which migrate into the park at this time.
Lake Manyara
This water which is being forced up to the surface here is heavily loaded with volcanic minerals such as phosphates and sulphates. As the lake here evaporates under the hot summer sun, the concentrations of these minerals increases, giving the lake a coloured tinge and attracting the flamingo which feed on the algae that thrive in this hostile environment. Compared with other Rift Valley lakes, Manyara is in fact not so hostile and plays host to good populations of barbel (catfish) and hippopotamus, as well as large flocks of flamingoes and storks for most of the year.
The lake itself varies in size enormously over the years. Back in 1994 it was reduced to an intensely toxic puddle in comparison to the lake we see today. In 1996 there was so much rain in the region that the lake rose to unprecedented levels, washing away most of Maji Moto Camp. The main road was blocked by the floods for hundreds of metres, leaving many safaris stranded on the far side. For some weeks visitors and their luggage were carried across the flood, with all the safari companies pulling together to share the use of those vehicles on the far side.
Hot springs
In two locations within the park the ground-water comes to the surface as hot springs, but these are more of the nature of a small leak than a full-blown geyser : kiswahili : Maji Moto = hot water |
