Day 39 to 41 -8th to 10th December - Lake Manyara National Park

Point of departure : Ngorongoro Crater

Point of arrival : Lake Manyara National Park

Accommodation: Lake Manyara Tree Lodge(www.andbeyondafrica.com)

Km travelled today: 0 kmCum: 8 478km (gravel 0km cum 2 117km)

Countries so far: 5/16

Where to next? Klein's Camp border with Serengeti

Total number of photos taken: 128 (cum 2 174)

It seems like our Crater experience this time was almost over before it even begun as we bade farewell to our hosts at about 09h30 for the road transfer to Lake Manyara airstrip where our new guide, Casmir, from Lake Manyara Tree Lodge fetched us.

Our drive to the lodge was effectively a game viewing drive including a picnic lunch overlooking Lake Manyara.

John is convinced that the tsetse blood services were at work on the way back to the lodge and he (John) made a liberal donation to their cause!These blood-sucking creatures tormented him for much of the way leaving some nasty and irritable bite marks on both legs and back, even through his shirt.

Our highlight on the drive today was seeing two warthog piglets (still with their umbilical cords attached) and a hippo calf (a couple of days old - still a bit wobbly on his feet).

The welcome at the Lodge was lovely - again with various members of staff singing and clapping, together with the welcome towel and drink.

It turned out to be an exhausting day with the heat and the travel and we were happy to get to bed immediately after dinner in the boma.

Our "treehouse" is a stilted suite beneath a huge Natal mahogany tree with a large deck suspended above the forest floor, with large unpanned windows (mozi screens only).An outdoor shower and a free standing bath all with a forest view completes this most picturesque and romantic suite.

Day 40 -A short game drive in the morning after a 06h00 wakeup.The flies were still busy but at least partially thwarted today with long pants and long sleeved shirts and John's personal fly whisker (aka Marina) keeping the little demons off his back (from the seat behind).

We also saw huge troops of olive baboons - apparently the park has over 2 500 - quite a high density for such a small park.

Word preceded us that we were interested in birds, and Casmir spent a lot of time pointing out the small and large, colourful and dreary of the bird world.The highlight today was a pair of red headed weavers building their nest - at least he was building whilst she seemed to be doing the inspection and no doubt as a woman would, offering advice.

After the heat from yesterday, we had some welcome rain overnight and more whilst on the game drive which has cooled things down quite markedly.

Lake Manyara is a shallow, alkaline lake at the base of a sheer stretch of the Western Rift Valley escarpment.The northwest of the lake and the land around it, is a 330 sqkm national park whereby the lake occupies 200sqkm. The Lake Manyara National Park is part of the eastern arm of the Great Rift Valley at an altitude of 945metres above sea level and rises to 1500m at the crest of the escarpment.

Two notable features of Lake Manyara is firstly its prolific elephants and its unique tree climbing lions.These lions climb to the uppermost parts (some 7 to 8 metres above the ground) of the huge Acacia trees and spend their days languishing on the branches.Many reasons have been put forward about this behaviour but the most likely one is to avoid those blood-sucking little flies.Apparently this behaviour has been passed down by each generation and this notion has been supported by the & Beyond rangers who have witnessed a lioness coaching her 8 month old cubs to climb.

Day 41 - John has not been feeling well as a result of the tsetse fly bites and stayed in camp yesterday afternoon and again this morning, whilst Marina went on the game drives with Georgie Webb (from & Beyond head office) whom we met at the lodge. By lunch time he was showing signs of recovery - he managed a glass of wine and a meal. Casmir (our guide) is under pressure to prove to us that the tree climbing lions do exist - but so far we have not seen them. Let's hope that this afternoon's game drive proves fruitful.

No lions but the Lodge made up for it - we had sundowners on the edge of the lake with hot snacks - truly magical! Watched the sun set and then back "home" for dinner.

Our thanks to Scott (whom we met at Grumeti in 2005), Asheri, Casmir, Liberati (our butler) and ALL the wonderful staff (friendly, professional and efficient are words that come to mind) who made our stay a very memorable one.Thank you too, to all at Lake Manyara for our little farewell gift - much appreciated and we will remember you fondly.