Lake Manyara National Park is a protected area located between Lake Manyara and the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania’s Arusha and Manyara Regions. The Park has a total area of 325 km2, including approximately 230 km2 of the lake surface. The lake has been home to over 350 different bird species.
Lake Manyara National Park is the perfect place for a compact game-viewing circuit on a Tanzania safari experience. The jungle looks like a freshwater forest from the gate, with a hundred-strong baboon troop hanging relaxed along the roadsides, the blue monkey scampering elegantly between the antique mahogany trees, the delicate bushbuck treading nervously through the darkness, and outsized forest hornbills honking in the high canopies.
Contrasting with the intimacy of, the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastwards across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Masai slopes. Large buffalo, wildebeest, and zebra, congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes. Some are so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.
Activities and things to do – Lake Manyara National Park
Game Drive
Day game drive in Lake Manyara National Park offers you an opportunity to spot many animals namely zebra, hippo, elephant, vervet monkey, wildebeest, gazelle, Masai giraffe, blue monkey, olive baboon, blue monkey, grey duiker, oribi, hyena, waterbuck, warthog, buffalo, impala among others. Day game drives in the park are also offered in seasons of early morning game drive and afternoon game drive.
Night game drive
A night game drive in Lake Manyara National Park allows you to see nocturnal animals, particularly predators as they await their prey. Using a spotlight, you can see animals such as lions, leopards, Hippos, genets, civet cats, aardvark, and many more.
Track tree climbing lions
Tree climbing lions are a more than rare sight for many decades, in the whole world there are only two national parks in the whole world where tourists can see tree-climbing lions, Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, and Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania. This kind of nature is adopted from lions that want to enjoy the cool breeze, clear view of their prey, and also relax after a good meal during a rainy season. Inland of the floodplains, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favored place of Park’s famous tree-climbing lions, a bloat of hippos and elephants.
Canopy Walkthrough the treetops
We tailor freelancer nature walks at Lake Manyara, during this nature walk – you will be accompanied by a well-trained guide. On this nature walk, visitors are expected to see many primate species namely vervet monkey, olive baboon, blue monkey, as well as more than 100 bird species like African grey hornbill, southern ground hornbill, spur-winged goose, pink backed pelican, pied kingfisher, little stint, African hawk-eagle among others in one day.
Birding in Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara National Park is home to over 350 bird species in Lake Manyara National Park, besides being a small national park, the Pak is a birder paradise and famed for its flock of flamingos that roam the banks of the lake. Bird species in this park include silvery cheeked hornbill, black-faced sand grouse, crowned plover, Fischer’s sparrow hawk, Egyptian goose, southern pochard, Hottentot teal, African black duck, northern shoveler, yellow-billed duck, Cape teal, ground-dwelling crested guineafowl, helmeted guineafowl, harlequin quail, scaly francolin, yellow-necked spurfowl, grey-breasted spurfowl, black cuckoo, common cuckoo, African cuckoo, African emerald cuckoo, African rail, African crake, black crake, red-knobbed coot, lesser moorhen, black-billed bustard, buff-crested bustard, white-billed bustard, kori bustard, purple crested turaco, Schalow’s turaco, Hartlaub turaco, great white pelican, Pink-backed pelican, hamerkop, little bittern, Rufous-bellied heron, Madagascar pond heron, cattle egret, grey heron, purple heron, African sacred ibis, hadada ibis, glossy ibis, African spoonbill, little egret, African hawk-eagle, booted eagle, lizard buzzard, dark chanting goshawk, eastern imperial eagle, common hoopoe, common scimitarbill, Abyssinian scimitarbill, green-backed honeybird pallid honeyguide, red-fronted parrot, brown parrot, red-billed parrot, yellow-collared lovebird, olive sunbird, malachite sunbird, golden-winged sunbird, bronzy sunbird among others.
Canoeing on Lake Manyara
Visitors to Lake, Manyara can now enjoy impeccable waterside game-watching encounters. In a two-man canoe, visitors row quietly along the shoreline from the protected shallow waters of this magnificent soda lake. Cruising past elephant, buffalo, giraffe, and hippo on the banks of the Lake and the spectacular birdlife on the shores. This is the most fascinating and remarkable safari looking at nature from a whole new angle. Canoeing at Lake Manyara usually starts at 7:00 am or 02:00 pm depending on your itinerary. “The spectacular Marine fauna”
Visit Maasai Bombas
Overlooking Lake Manyara Tanzania is a community of the Maasai people who live in their tranquil circular mud and shelter huts which they call Bombas. The Maasai are very welcoming, and they usually burst into song and dance as they welcome you to their village. The semi-nomadic Maasai people who pride themselves as the authentic people of Kenya are predominantly located in Kenya and northern Tanzania of East Africa. They reside along the border of the two countries and are considered to be part of the Nilotic family of African tribal groups. It is estimated that about 1 million Maasai people live in Kenya and Tanzania. Maasais speak Maa, a Nilotic ethnic language from their origin in the Nile region of North Africa. Despite the growth of civilization and modernism, they have laudably managed to sustain some beautiful aspects of their culture which make them one of East Africa’s most internationally famous attractions.
How to get there
The flight time between Arusha (ARK) and Lake Manyara (LKY) is around 38 min and covers a distance of around 91 km. The fastest flight normally takes 20 min. Alternatively, for travelers who opt to use road transport from Arusha Airport to Lake Manyara National Park, Lake Manyara National Park is located about 125 km – drive time is about 2 hours and 30 minutes from Arusha town.
Best time of the year to visit the Park
The best time to see wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park is from late June to October, during the dry season; however, the warmest months are from January to March. There are two rainy seasons, the short rains from November to December and the long rains from March to May.
Where to stay
Luxury lodges
· Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge
· Lake Manyara Tree Lodge
· Lake Manyara Wildlife Safari Camp
· Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge
Mid-range Lodges
· Escarpment Lodge
· Kirurumu Manyara Lodge
· Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge
· Migunga Tented Camp
Budget
· Twiga Camp
· Panorama Safari Camp and Lodge
· Africa Safari Camp
