Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park offers varied ecosystems, incredible bird life, and breathtaking views.
Located on the way to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Lake Manyara National Park is worth a stop in its own right. Its groundwater forest, bush plains, baobab strewn cliffs, and algae-streaked hot springs offer incredible ecological variety in a small area. The park covers 330 sq km (127 sq miles), of which up to 200 sq km is lake when water levels are high.
For its size the park packs in an unusual range of habitats — groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, open floodplain, acacia woodland and the soda lake itself. That compression is what makes a short visit worthwhile: the vegetation changes completely within a few kilometres of driving.
One luxury tree house-style camp, public bandas and campsites inside the park. One luxury tented camp and three lodges perched on the Rift.
By road, charter or scheduled flight from Arusha, en route to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
The entrance gate lies 1.5 hours (126km/80 miles) west of Arusha along a newly surfaced road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.
The alkaline soda of Lake Manyara is home to an incredible array of bird life that thrives on its brackish waters. Pink flamingo stoop and graze by the thousands, colourful specks against the grey minerals of the lake shore.
Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to pay a visit to this park. The only kind of their species in the world, they make the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the rainy season.
The groundwater forest at the entrance is the first thing most visitors see, a dense stretch of mahogany and fig fed by springs, with large baboon troops and blue monkeys along the track.
Hippo pools near the lake shore and the views up to the Rift Valley escarpment are further draws, and elephant move through the woodland in good numbers.
Game drives, night game drives, and canoeing when the water level is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, picnics, bush lunch or dinner, and mountain bike tours are also available.
Because the park is compact and sits directly on the road to Ngorongoro, a half-day visit fits comfortably into a northern-circuit itinerary without adding a travel day.
July to October is the driest period and the best for large mammals, when animals concentrate near the lake and the tracks are firm.
November to June suits birdwatchers better. Flamingo numbers on the lake peak with the water level, migratory species are present from around November, and the forest is at its greenest — though the black cotton soil can make some tracks difficult after heavy rain.
Lake levels vary a great deal from year to year, and this changes the park noticeably. In wetter years the lake covers much of the park floor and flamingo numbers are high; after a run of dry seasons the water retreats and the birds disperse to other soda lakes in the Rift.
Manyara is also one of the few parks in the north permitted to run night game drives, which open up sightings of genet, civet and bushbaby that daytime visitors miss. These run year-round but are more comfortable outside the wettest months.
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