LAKE MANYARA

Lake Manyara National Park covers an area of 330 square kilometres, of which 200 sq.kms is covered by the soda lake. The park is situated between the 600 m high escarpment of the Great Rift Valley and the lake itself and is 130 km (approximately 2 hours drive) from Arusha.

The park is usually incorporated into a longer northern Tanzanian Safari circuit, or can be done as a day trip from Arusha for those who are pressed for time following a Kilimanjaro trek.

The park is famous for its millions of colourful flamingo, pelicans, storks, kingfishers and a variety of hornbills (over 400 species of birds can be found in this park), as well as being well-known for its tree-climbing lions (only one of two groups of tree climbing lions in the world can be found here). The park is included in popular itineraries in order to give visitors a view of a different landscape and an appreciation of the rift valley escarpment with all its natural beauty. The park is predominantly forest and is home to a wide species of birdlife, antelope and monkeys including large troops of baboon and the more elusive blue monkey. There are many elephant herds, giraffe, zebra, hippopotamus and a host of other wildlife.
One game drive is usually enough to see most of the park, though with more time and with prior arrangement it is possible to visit the hot springs ("maji moto") on the far side of the park. The Lake itself is in the middle of the Rift Valley depression and all of the hotels and lodges are on the rim of the Rift Valley, so offering great views over the lake and the park. For those who can spend more than a day in the park, an added bonus is to be able to walk or cycle around the top of the Rift Valley, through the forests, to get spectacular views across the Rift and surrounding areas.

For the more adventurous, there are a number of excursions that can be incorporated into the basic safari program - allowing one to experience the natural surroundings in different ways - choose from: a forest hike or mountain biking along the Great Rift Valley, a night game drive with delicious bush dinner or even horse riding! One can even undertake a cultural tour at the nearby village of Mto-wa-Mbu where one can visit homesteads, schools, learn about the village development project and sample a home cooked traditional meal. See our Excursions and Cultural Programs pages for more details.