Lake Manyara National Park

Description

Lake Manyara National Park is located in the northern part of Tanzania, around 120 kilometres west of Arusha Town. With its 330 square kilometres of size the park offers an environment for a safari tour. Lake Manyara National Park offers a wilderness experience in diverse habitats, from its Rift Valley soda lake to dense woodlands and steep mountainsides. Apart from a spectacular setting, the park is famous for its unusual tree-climbing lions and the astonishing elephant that can be spotted at different spots of the national park. Its groundwater forests, bush plains, baobab strewn cliffs, and algae-streaked hot springs offer an incredible ecological variety in a small area, rich in wildlife and great numbers of different birds.

Best time to visit

It is good to watch wildlife all year long in Lake Manyara National Park but the best time for a game drive is during the dry season which runs from late June to September. The best times to visit a as followed: Safari Game Drive, Dry season (July – October) for large mammals; Wet season (November – June) for bird watching, the waterfalls and canoeing.

What to Expect

The shores of the lake, encrusted with pink flamingos, attract more than 400 species of birds, many of which are waterfowl or migrants. Large herds of buffalo, cheetah, Masai giraffe and impala roam the lake shores and the forested valley slopes. The alkaline soda of Lake Manyara is home to an incredible array of birdlife that thrives on its brackish waters. Pink flamingo stoops and graze by the thousands of colourful specks against the grey minerals of the lakeshore. Yellow-billed storks swoop and corkscrew on thermal winds rising up from the escarpment, and herons flap their wings against the sun-drenched sky. Even reluctant bird-watchers will find something to watch and marvel at within the national park.

Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to pay a visit to this park. Being the only kind of their species in the world, they make the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the rainy season and are a well-known but rather rarely spotted feature of the northern park. In addition to the lions, the national park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world.

Populations of large migratory mammals that are situated in Tarangire National Park, but also move through Lake Manyara National Park include wildebeest, zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, and Grant’s gazelle. Large herds of wildebeest and other plains game from the Mto wa Mbu Game Controlled Area enter the park from the north for short periods to cross the area.

Other features of the national park include a hippopotamus pool at the northern end of the lake and two hot springs, one near the center of the park and the other near the southern edge. There is a hot water spring on the western shores of Lake Manyara called Maji Moto hot water springs. This 60 °C geothermal pool is formed by underground water that passes through hot volcanic magma rocks of the Great Rift Valley.

Several additional tourists activities can be conducted in Manyara National Park just as, Birding Safaris, Boating, Canoeing, Horse and Camel Riding, Mountain Biking, Wildlife Safaris, Camping Safaris, Night Game Drives, & Wedding Safaris, etc. Just contact us with your inquiry and we will make your wishes come true!