"Lake Manyara - Safari Gem of the Rift Valley" Top 5 Page for this destination Lake Manyara National Park by jackfruit

Lake Manyara National Park Travel Guide: 24 reviews and 118 photos

Good looking tusker feeding on Acacia in the park

Lake Manyara National Park is situated in the Rift Valley area of Northeastern Tanzania and about a 3 hour drive (200 kms) from Arusha. The National Park has spectacular wildlife to view. The landscape varies with the terrain here - from the rift escarpment to the lake. In the tall trees of the ground water forest monkeys leap from branch to branch, on the slope of the escarpment elephants stand in the shade of a baobab. In the acacia woodland lions lie draped along the branches of umbrella trees, in the pools along the lake shore the hippos wallow, and in the lake itself wade colorful flamingos.

A herd of zebras grazing

From Arusha, the last village you pass through before approaching the National Park is Mto wa Mbu (Mosquito Creek). It's a quiet little village with a few shops, houses, etc. There are a few hotels here that you can stay at for your safari, but I recommend the Lake Manyara Hotel situated on the rift escarpment. From here, you climb uphill past the park gate, to get to the main safari hotels (touristy but of better quality than those found in Mto). The rift valley wall looms ahead of you and the drive is simply spectacular with the mosaic of the Lake Manyara National Park spread below you.

Impala in the park

Spread out over approximately 330 square kilometers, the Lake Manyara National park is a great place to visit. In a day trip to the park, you have the opportunity to view a lot of varied wildlife, from monkeys to flamingos. We werent lucky enough to see the rare tree climbing lions that this park is famous for, but everything else was there to be seen and photographed!

Pros and Cons

Pros:Great opportunities to view wildlife (African Elephant, Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, Hippo and different species of monkeys are plentiful); Tree climbing lions can be seen if you are lucky!
Cons:Dusty roads, so be prepared for it!
In a nutshell:Lots of photo taking opps here!

Last visit to Lake Manyara National Park: Nov 2003
Intro Updated Feb 28, 2004
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (2)

Lake Manyara Hotel - Lake Manyara National Park

Luxury Accomodation overlooking Lake... Hotels (1)

This is a wonderful safari hotel built during the days of Nyerere and is still holding up! Spacious rooms with roomy... more travel advice

African artifacts Shopping (1)

Local artisans sell wooden (teak, rosewood and ebony), elephant hair and cotton batik crafts in stores that you can find... more travel advice

Travelogues (1)

Written Feb 28, 2004

5 photos

Safari in Lake Manyara - A Photo Journal

1 - 1 of 1

Comments (9)

Reply
- Report abuse
roamer61 Aug 17, 2005 at 7:50 AM

Great. This is supposed to be the only park where lions regularly go up into the trees. Did you see any?
Reply
- Report abuse
mrclay2000 Apr 12, 2005 at 7:48 AM

Great pictures. . .
Reply
- Report abuse
Myndo Apr 11, 2005 at 9:36 AM

good tips, I would like to see more.
Reply
- Report abuse
seamandrew May 1, 2004 at 11:55 PM

Sounds surreal. Love to make a trip here someday of my own. Thanks for sharing! Awesome pictures!
Reply
- Report abuse
irisbe Apr 17, 2004 at 2:20 PM

amazing sights! and a very interesting tlogue about your safari!
Reply
- Report abuse
laughingsun69 Mar 7, 2004 at 7:55 AM

Lake manyara looks magnificent great pics and info:)
Reply
- Report abuse
Bwana_Brown Mar 1, 2004 at 5:34 PM

Both your text and photos paint a great picture of this enticing looking spot! I thought about diverting to Lake Manyara as I hitch-hiked past in 1974 but figured it would be too off-the-path. It is great to see that it still looks so spectacular!!
Reply
- Report abuse
mtncorg Feb 27, 2004 at 12:54 PM

More great Safari tips!
Reply
- Report abuse
aadil Jan 12, 2004 at 11:34 AM

Lovely pictures and great description of the safari trip!!! Sad you could not shoot the tree climbing lions on film!!!