Lake Manyara National Park Safaris

Below the Rift escarpment, Manyara Region

Lake Manyara National Park

Size: 330 km², roughly two-thirds of it lake
Best time: June–October for game, November–April for birds
Getting there: 1.5 hours by road from Arusha
Location: Below the Rift escarpment, Manyara Region

Lake Manyara National Park is small, and that is the point of it. Three hundred and thirty square kilometres wedged between the Rift Valley escarpment and the soda lake itself, packed with more distinct habitats than parks ten times its size — groundwater forest, open floodplain, acacia woodland and the lake shore, all inside a couple of hours' driving.

The groundwater forest at the entrance gate is the surprise. It is fed by springs coming off the escarpment, and it is dense, green and full of blue monkey and baboon in a way that feels nothing like the savannah half an hour further in. Beyond it the floodplain opens out, and beyond that the lake edge turns pink with flamingo when the water levels suit them.

Manyara is famous for tree-climbing lion, and we will be straight with you about that: they are here, they do it, and they are not guaranteed on any given day. What is guaranteed is a park that pairs naturally with Tarangire and Ngorongoro on a short itinerary, and rewards a half day far better than most places reward a full one.

How to get there

By roadAbout 1.5 hours from Arusha, and roughly an hour on from Tarangire. The gate sits at the foot of the escarpment just below Mto wa Mbu.
OnwardThe climb to the Ngorongoro rim is about two hours from the gate, so Manyara slots in as a morning en route.

Best time to visitJune–October for game, November–April for birds

Attractions

The groundwater forest

Spring-fed, dense and unexpectedly green, immediately inside the gate. Blue monkey, baboon troops and enormous fig and mahogany trees.

The lake and its flamingos

A shallow alkaline lake that draws lesser flamingo in numbers when levels are right. Pelican, stork and a great deal else along the shoreline.

Tree-climbing lion

Manyara's signature. Real, well documented, and entirely unpredictable — worth looking for, never worth promising.

The Rift escarpment

The wall above the park, several hundred metres of it, which frames every view and makes the whole place feel enclosed in a way no other northern park does.