1 February 2013 - Lake Manyara

Wake up was 6.30 but we were awake by 6. Breakfast at 7 and on the road at 8.

We said goodbye to the other two couples who were heading towards the Serengeti but to different camps. We may see them again in a  couple of days when we head that way.

Our first sighting for the day was about 50 baboons walking down the road heading to who knows where. They were very road savvy, they moved off the road as we passed them and then came back to the road after we'd passed them. Great sight. Lots of giraffe, zebra, hippos, buffalo, couple of elephants, impala, warthogs around the lake and on the plains. We saw some beautiful birds we hadn't seen before.

We drove up to the baboons

After we'd passed through the group 

 Blacksmith plover

Hamerkop 

Elephants grazing on the hill 

Martial Eagle

 

 Giraffe in no hurry to get off the road

White stork

Grants gazelle  

Northern red bishop

 Acacia tree

Very sharp thorns on the acacia tree 

Leopard tortoise 

Woodland kingfisher

 Yellow bishop

 Agama lizard

 Dik-dik

 Crown crane

 Water thick knee

Hoopoe

Got a little closer to the pink flamingos in the centre of the lake but still some distance away. At one stage a number of them took flight which was lovely to watch as they flew in formation, not too far, just for exercise.

Pink flamingos

We headed back to the camp for lunch at 1 and then siesta for a couple of hours.

Got our journal up to date and uploaded photos to the ipad.

Back in the jeep at 4 for an afternoon safari. Saw a family of ducks looking to see if was safe to enter a small water hole. There were a couple of giraffe close by but I don't think the ducks were in danger. The ducklings looked gorgeous, all fluffy. 

 Family of ducks

Mum and dad on the lookout

Giraffe close by

We then came across a leopard in a tree with his catch of the day which looked like a mongoose.He was dangling his legs over the branch of a tree, Gabriel spotted him. Terry got a few shots but the leopard was shy and took off after a couple of minutes. Great sighting.

 Leopard in the tree with his catch

Spots us watching, look at those beautiful green eyes.

Grabs his mongoose in his mouth to make his escape

We saw more birds and  blue monkeys.

Hamerkop

 Paradise whydah

Blue monkey

We came across a male elephant who was in musk and obviously frustrated.
He pretended to charge the jeep but backed off and then came again, this time Gabriel took off in the jeep.

Elephant looking a little cranky

We think he just wanted to cross the road and we were in his path. Back to camp we went.

We had our daily bucket shower and headed over to the campfire for a pre dinner drink. We were the only ones in camp so the manager of the camp, Benson, joined us for a drink. The flies at this camp are the worst we've encountered, thankfully they go away once the sun goes down. We had dinner in the mess tent and chatted to Benson until we headed to bed around 9.