Tree-climbing lions beneath the Rift Valley wall
Game drives, night game drives, canoeing when the water levels is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, picnicking, bush lunch/dinner, mountain bike tours, abseiling and forest walks on the escarpment outside the park.
Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.
Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania's birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.
Manyara is small and layered. The road in runs through dense groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the Rift Valley escarpment, with figs, mahogany, blue monkeys and troops of baboon. Then it opens abruptly onto floodplain and the alkaline lake beyond, with the escarpment wall rising behind. That squeeze of habitats into a narrow strip gives the park its character and its bird list.
It is often treated as a half-day on the way to somewhere else, which is fair on a short itinerary. The birding and the chance of tree-climbing lion both reward staying longer.
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Prolific birdlife. Manyara is one of the best introductions to Tanzanian birds anywhere on the circuit, with large flamingo numbers on the lake when levels suit. Elephant in the forest, big baboon troops, blue monkey, hippo, buffalo and giraffe. Lion here are sometimes seen resting in trees. It is a matter of luck, not something you can count on.
Game drives, night game drives, canoeing when the water levels is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, picnicking, bush lunch/dinner, mountain bike tours, abseiling and forest walks on the escarpment outside the park.
By road west from Arusha, immediately below the Rift Valley escarpment and directly on the route between Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Crater. That is why it so often becomes a half-day stop, not an overnight.
July to October for game. November to June for birdlife.
Lake Manyara is a small park, about 330 square kilometres. When the water is high, as much as two thirds of that is lake. But it feels much bigger than the map suggests, because of how it is arranged.
The park is a narrow strip caught between the alkaline lake on one side and the 600-metre wall of the Rift Valley on the other. In the few kilometres between the two, you pass through more different habitats than most parks contain in total.
You enter through groundwater forest. Tall mahogany and fig trees grow here, fed by springs coming out of the base of the escarpment, not by rain. It is dense and dark. Blue monkeys move overhead, and troops of baboon sit in the road. Manyara has one of the largest baboon populations anywhere. It is a surprising way to start a game drive, because it looks nothing like the safari most people are expecting.
Past the forest the country opens up. First acacia woodland, then floodplain grassland, then the lakeshore with its soda flats and, when conditions are right, its flamingos. Elephant move through the woodland. Buffalo and wildebeest use the flats. Hippo sit in the pools at the northern end.
Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions. They are real, and people do see them lying along the branches of acacias. But they are unreliable. Plenty of visitors spend a whole day here and see none. Treat them as a bonus, not as the reason you came.
Manyara's two attractions are best at opposite times of year, so the answer to "when should I come" depends entirely on what you want.
For general game viewing, the dry months from July to October are better. The vegetation thins out, animals are easier to spot in the woodland, and the ground is firm enough for the tracks in the south of the park.
For birds, and for the lake itself, the wet season from November to June is far better. The lake refills. Flamingo numbers can climb into the tens of thousands. Migrant birds push the species count up. More than 400 species have been recorded here, and a good day in the green season can produce a hundred of them. The groundwater forest is also at its most dramatic in the rain.
Water level governs everything, and you cannot predict it far ahead. In some years the lake almost dries out. In others it floods the shore tracks and closes them. Flamingos follow the water and the algae that grows in it, so a big flock is luck, not something you can plan for.
Manyara is often given a half day, squeezed between Tarangire and the crater. That is a reasonable use of it. A full day is much better: a picnic lunch on the escarpment side, and time in the south of the park.
Manyara offers several things most northern-circuit parks do not. They matter, because they change what a day here can be.
The treetop canopy walkway is a system of suspended bridges running through the groundwater forest, up to eighteen metres above the ground, with viewing platforms along the way. It costs extra, it takes about an hour, and it puts you level with the forest birds and monkeys instead of looking up at them from a vehicle.
Manyara is one of very few parks in Tanzania that allows night game drives. They run with a park ranger and a spotlight, and they are how you see the animals a daytime drive never produces: genet, civet, white-tailed mongoose, bushbaby, and sometimes leopard hunting. You have to book them in advance, and they cost extra.
At the southern end of the park, Maji Moto is a hot spring where the water comes out at about 60°C. That is hot enough that you cannot hold your hand in it. The drive down there is long, and it is often the quietest part of the park.
Walking safaris are allowed in certain areas with an armed ranger, and the escarpment side gives you views over the whole lake.
None of these are covered by a standard park fee, and all of them need arranging before the day. You cannot ask at the gate.
Set on the rim of the Rift Valley escarpment with views over Lake Manyara and the park below.
Tell us how long you have and we will build an itinerary around it.
