Lake Manyara National Park is one of the oldest and most popular sanctuaries in East Africa. Ernest Hemingway described this National Park’s lake as “the loveliest I have seen in Africa”. This charming park is tiny by comparison with most of the others on a safari itinerary but its special qualities and abundant wildlife make it a most worthwhile visit. The park covers only 125 square miles of which 88 square miles are the lake itself.
The park lies below the Great Rift Valley escarpment. For those that love baboons, this is the place to visit. The park is dominated by large troops of baboon who often delight in showing off for visitors. The lake is quite shallow and can almost disappear in the dry season but there are permanent water sources which have produced a lush forest and a variety of imposing and interesting trees. This is not technically a rain forest but is very similar, dense and shady with numerous monkeys, birds and other forest life. The lake and its surrounding regions also shelter hippo, impala and approximately 450 types of birds.
In the more open areas of acacia woodland the more typical selection of lions, elephant, buffalo, gazelle, giraffe etc. are to be found. The park was once famous for its ‘unique’ tree climbing lions but that phenomenon has been seen in numerous places elsewhere.
The relatively short distance from Arusha also makes this a popular day trip.

Highlights

Baboons, elephants, cape buffalo, hippopotamus and a large number of migrating plains animals and. Lesser and Greater Flamingo among the 400 species of birds.