Northern Tanzania - Tanzania - page 354

village. It's open 6am to 6pm. Entry fees are US$35/10 per adult/child five to 15 years, val-
id for multiple entries within 24 hours. Bookings can be made through the park warden (
027-253 9112; [e-mail]).
There's an ATM (by Twiga Campsite & Lodge) and a couple of slow internet cafes in Mto
wa Mbu.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Air
Air Excel, Coastal Aviation and Regional Air offer daily flights between Arusha and Lake
Manyara for about US$70 oneway. The airstrip is atop the escarpment near the Serena.
Bus
Buses and dalla-dallas run all day from Arusha (Tsh5000 to Tsh6000, two hours) and
Karatu (Tsh2000, one hour) to Mto wa Mbu. You can also come from Arusha on the
minibuses that run to Karatu ( Click here ). All vehicles stop along the main road in the town
centre near Red Banana Café.
Car
Car hire (US$150 including fuel and driver) for trips to the park is available in Mto wa
Mbu through the Cultural Tourism Program office and Twiga and Jambo campsites.
Lake Natron
Shimmering amid the sun-scorched Kenyan border northeast of Ngorongoro Conservation
Area, this 58km-long but just 50cm-deep alkaline lake should be on every adventurer's it-
inerary. The drive from Mto wa Mbu is remote, with a desolate, otherworldly beauty and
an incomparable feeling of space and ancientness. The road traces the Rift Valley Escarp-
ment through untrammelled Maasai land with small bomas and big mountains always in
view on this almost treeless plain. Plenty of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and ostriches graze
in the near distance. After the drive, the lake itself is secondary; except during the June-
November breeding season when upwards of three million flamingos gather here. It's the
most important flamingo breeding site in East Africa. The birds' future, however, may be
in doubt since the government, ignoring opposition from conservationists and local resid-
ents, is pushing aggressively to let an Indian company open a soda ash mine on the lake.
The base for visits is the small oasis of Engaresero (also spelled Ngare Sero; 'im-
permanent water' in Maasai) on the southwestern shore. The Engarasero Association of
Guides ([e-mail]; 8am-6.30pm) has an office at the village council, just
north of town. Guided walking trips to the lake, a nearby waterfall and a set of recently