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About Lake Manyara national Park
Following the rift valley to Kenya, the fault divides into eastern and western arms. Manyara is within the eastern arm whose escarpment rises to approcimately 1,200 to 1,300 meters above sea level. Nevertheless the altitude in the park is about 945 meters above sea level.
The name manyara is derived from the maasai word – Emanyara – a plant used for making living stockades around their kraals. It is a popular plant among the maasai community as a hedge for protecting their livestock against predators and cattle rustlers. The plant is scientifically called Euphorbia tirucalii. On the other hand, other maasai elders argue that it comes from the word “Ol manyara” Which means – Settlement.
The outstanding features of the park include the spectacular escarpment of the rift valley wall, on the western side of the park; It is part of the Great Rift valley which stretches for about 8,000km from Turkey to the mouth of the Zambezi River in Mozambique. There is no eastern wall to the Rift valley in manyara as there is in Kenya. |
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Here the flattish country falls very gently into a depression. The park boasts of different vegetation types which are heterogenous and are classifies according to the local drainage conditions. The Groundwater and riverine forest which can be seen immediately on entering the park covers an estimated area of 1300 hectares. It extends from the gate to msasa river. The dominant trees of the groundwater forest are the tall and large evergreen African mohagany, Trichilia emetic, which occurs abundantly throughout the groundwater forest and along the river.
This canopy vegetation also contains shrubs, herbs and grasses which forms a good habitat for baboon, rhino, buffalo, crested guinea fown, hornbill etc. However, the ground herbage depends on the amount of sun light reaching fht forest floor. One notable feature is that the groundwater forest fed by permanent streams which gush out from the volcanic rocks below the rift wall.
Adjacent to the groundwater forest, there is the Acacia woodland. It has a total area of 1820 hectares and extends from msasa to bagayo River. The dorminant tree species is the Acacia tortilis sperocarpa. There are also drought tolerant species such as balanite aegyptiaca, salvadorea persica, cordia gharaf, caparis tomentosa etc… etc. The vegetation is ideal for both grazers and browsers. Hence elephant, impala, buffalo and giraffe find this area to be their favourite ecological niche. From Endabash towards the southern end of the park is the mixed woodland which covers an area of 2290 hectares. Also the common trees in this park include
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arge baobabs (Adansonia digitata ) that occur throughout. Elephants are common on the escarpment and are seen descending on the plains in the morning. And lastly, there is the swamp.
This is an extensive area of swamp herbage which projects out over the lakebed flats. It also occurs in shallow basins of impeded drainage enclosed within the groundwater forest. Typha angustifolia is the dominant plant in the swamp at the north end of the lake. Elsewhere around the perimeter, cyperaceae are dominant.
The average rainfall in the park is about 760mm. The long rainy season begins in march and continues through may. A heavy rainstorm sometimes may occur in april or may and this can cause temporary closure of some tracks in the park. The mean annual temperature is about 22C. Lake manyara national park has one of the highest mammal biomass in the world. Elephants, with a density of six per square kilometer, and buffalo with a density of 18 per square kilometer comprised the bulk of this biomass. The park has been divided into zones. These zones include:
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