Lake Manyara

As part of Tanzania’s northern circuit Lake Manyara National Park lies with the beautiful Lake Manyara to its east and the Manyara Escarpment to the west.

This small but perfectly formed wilderness is home to a surprising biodiversity, with a great variety of flora and fauna, bird and animal life, as well as tree-climbing lions and thousands of flamingos.

Lake Manyara is often passed through too quickly and overlooked due to its size. Our advice would be to take time to enjoy this hidden gem and stay at one water source for a while, relax and watch what passes through. 

A huge number of species are supported due to the diversity of the habitat. The park magnificent landscape including acacia woodland, ground water forest, lake shore, swamp, hot springs, open grassland and the glittering alkaline expanse of the lake itself. You are likely to see buffalo, dik dik, elephant, giraffe, impala, zebra, kilpspringer, hippo, many primates and a fantastic array of birds. 

Did you know?

• The Lake Manyara National Park is home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world.
• You can get great views of the park from the escarpment.
• There is a huge colony of yellow billed storks who nest in the trees to the entrance to the park.
• The park has an amazing treetop walkway. It’s really high up and not for the faint-hearted, but is a great experience.
• The Lake Manyara NP is relatively small at just 330 square kilometres and a lot of it is lake.