Lake Manyara
August 13, 2003
We arose early as we did on the mountain, but today was the beginning of our safari
and although some were warn out and unenergetic, I was enthusiastic and found more
of the team was agreeable to my feelings. I quickly ate breakfast in the hotel,
checked my Kilimanjaro bag, grabbed my backpack, and threw my safari bag in the
cage to be put on the vans.
I was lucky enough to be one of the first ones outside and therefore had my pick
of my van. I went with the "low I.Q. van," which consisted of Jake, Monica,
Joanne, Stacy, Mary, my dad, and I. Our driver was Eric and he seemed friendly enough
as we again headed through the Market in Arusha to Lake Manyara. The market was
incredible, the colors were much like the stereotypical Africa I now, naively believe
I know, the clothing consisted of every color of the rainbow plus hundreds more
and the foods were reds, oranges, yellows, purples, and greens, including the hundreds
of bananas fresh off the trees.
Eric told us as we passed dozens of Masai villages and herders that the word Manyara
comes from the Masai word Manyarta, meaning "house," for we were now in
Masai country. We stopped at the park gate so Eric could check us in and we could
stretch. While stopped we spotted a small monkey outside the bathrooms and I was
immediately enthralled. Immediately after entering the park we saw a few baboons
cleaning each other, and and soon after saw warthogs, elephants, and a few Masai
giraffes, similar to the more common giraffe, but much darker in color. Once we
entered the clearing we saw a few impala, African Cape Buffaloes, thousands and
thousands of flamingos, dozens of hippos, zebras, and other smaller species of birds.