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-   -   Best place to see a massive flock of flamingos? (https://www.fodors.com/community/africa-and-the-middle-east/best-place-to-see-a-massive-flock-of-flamingos-724975/)

Idnas71 Jul 30th, 2007 10:13 AM

Best place to see a massive flock of flamingos?
 
I was under the impression that Lake Nakuru was the place to be for the huge flocks of flamingos. But if I can also seem them at Ngorongoro Crater, or Lake Manyara, I'd be willing to skip a stay at Lake Nakuru. Time of year would be late September (2008).

Basically, I'm trying to cut down the number of places on my game-viewing safari itinerary in order to fit in some more variety in my trip. I'm one of those fast-paced travelers who doesn't like to linger too long in one place. I know that's not very popular here, but it works for me.

The bare bones so far are: I would like to spend 2-3 nights at the Masai Mara, 2 nights at Tarangire, 1 night at Lake Manyara and 2 nights at the Ngorongoro Crater. Some places that I have removed from my list are Amboseli N.P. and Samburu. I realize I'll also have to include overnights at Nairobi and Arusha, probably, to make this work.

The additional aspects of my trip would hopefully include 2-3 nights at Victoria Falls and 5-6 nights in Egypt, including a Nile Cruise/Abu Simbel. My budget is in the $7,000 range, including all airfare. Departing airport is St. Louis. Would consider driving to Chicago if it would save my traveling companion and I substantial money on the airfare.

I'm afraid I may have to drop the Victoria Falls in order to get close to that budget figure. But I haven't given up yet.

Any advice or opinions would be much appreciated. Thanks!


Bill_H Jul 30th, 2007 12:31 PM

A bit hard to predict, I think ... in January 2006, in drought conditions, we saw very few flamingos at Manyara, none at Ndutu and a few thousand at the lake in the crater, which we could approach fairly close.

In January 2007, after record rains in December, we saw an estimated 250,000 at Manyara (but could not approach closely), several hundred at Ndutu (which we got very close to) and a few hundred at Ngorongoro (couldn't drive to the edge of the lake because it was so boggy though).

Based on this very limited sample I think it is hard to predict in Tanzania :)

Bill

ann_nyc Jul 30th, 2007 01:40 PM

In Oct 2006, we saw massive numbers at Lake Manyara, and also lots (but not quite as many, I think) at the crater. However, we didn't see any very close. I'm not sure if closer approaches are possible or not, or whether Lake Nakuru gives a closer view.

At Lake Manyara, there were so many that it looked like an expanse of quartz gravel sparkling in the sun, with a faint faint pink cast. But we weren't able to see individual birds without binoculars.


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