Lake Manyara National Park
In the shadow of the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley Lake Manyara National Park is a lovely scenic park. Situated along the route from Arusha to the Ngorongoro Crater. Famous for its tree climbing lions, great birdlife, good elephants and baboons. The lake itself takes up much of the park, leaving a strip of land running along its shores where game concentrates. While the scenic beauty of this park certainly makes it worth a visit, the game viewing here pales into insignificance when compared with that on offer in Tarangire, the Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Visitors often go for an afternoon game drive around the lake on their way to Ngorongoro.
highlights
Wildlife
The concentration of game at Lake Manyara National Park is not nearly as high as in surrounding parks. However, there are a number of unique species that give reason enough to safari here. The park’s main attraction are Lake Manyara’s famous tree climbing lions – viewing a pride relaxing in an acacia tree is a remarkable sight! The park is also famous for its elephant and huge number of baboons. The varied landscape supports an impressive range of other game, which includes wildebeest, buffalo, hippo, flamingo, zebra, warthog, waterbuck, giraffe, dik-dik and impala. Birdlife here is also very good, especially raptors.
Birdlife
Any visitor to Lake Manyara National Park will have the famous flamingos on top of their list. Depending on where you go, it is possible to see the flock in their thousands. However, as they flit between Lake Manyara and other East African lakes, you could see one, or you could see 10,000! Pelicans as well as other water birds are plentiful and with so much water around. The woodlands and evergreen forests are equally productive with many different varieties of birds.
Best time to visit
