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LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

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Area (SqKm):319
Altitude (m):945
# Species:597
# Excl Vagrants:597
# Endemics:4
# Near Endemics:14
Species/100 SqKm:187.1
Habitat: Plains, Acacia parkland, scrub, marsh, ground-water forest

ABOUT THE BIRDING

Lake Manyara National Park offers varied habitat, but two-thirds of the park is covered by the alkaline Lake Manyara when water levels are high. During dry season the lake is virtually non-existent. The remainder is mostly in a narrow strip of land between the Manyara Escarpment to the west and the lake. The lake attracts large numbers of Lesser Flamingos, one of its major attractions. The alkaline shores of the lake are a good place to look for the widely distributed but quite erratic Greater Paint-Snipe. Another bird of special interest is the so-called Usambiro Barbet, currently considered a subspecies of D'Arnaud's Barbet but a possible future split. The park is notably excellent for birding with over 400 species recorded. It's frequently possible to see over 100 species in a single day. The park is famed for its tree-climbing Lions, though it's not the only place where lions climb trees. A variety of other mammals are also present, including large numbers of Elephant as well as Giraffe, gazelles, hippos, Sykes's Monkey, and Kirk's Dik-dik.

LOCATION OF SITE

Lake Manyara National Park is located about 1½ hours (80 miles) west of Arusha. It's the usual first stop for tours heading to Serengeti National Park from Arusha.