Small in size. Rich in scenery.
A shallow soda lake, green forest, open plains and a Rift Valley wall rising behind it.
Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smaller parks on the northern circuit, but its scenery changes quickly. The lake covers much of the park, with flamingos and other waterbirds appearing along its shores when conditions are right. Away from the water, groundwater forest gives way to open grassland and acacia woodland. The park is easy to combine with a northern safari, particularly between Arusha and the Ngorongoro area, and a few hours can give you a good feel for what makes Manyara different.
What walks (and flies) here
Flamingos, baboons,
and the famous lions.
At the gate
Groundwater forest.
Giant fig trees and mahoganies fed by springs. Elephants, baboons, blue monkeys in the canopy.
By the lake
Floodplain & soda crust.
Buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe coming to the edge to drink. Hippo pools just inland.
To the south
Acacia woodlands.
The classic safari-poster country, where the lions sometimes climb. Worth a detour, not a whole day.
Pelicans at the lake edge. Great white pelicans work the shallows beside the flamingo flocks whose feeding gives the water its pink rim.
In detail
Lake Manyara, in detail.
The lake’s high salinity is the engine behind its birdlife. Alkaline water lets blue-green spirulina algae flourish — an underwater pasture that feeds a dense fish population and, above the surface, the lake’s most famous resident, the flamingo. More than 300 bird species share this single aquatic habitat with the tilapia shoals below.
Those pink masses in the shallows count among Africa’s finest wildlife sights. Flamingos are alkaline specialists tied to the Rift lakes where their diet of algae and brine shrimp thrives; they stand one-legged to conserve warmth, are highly social and vocal, and to take off must sprint across the water for lift. Once airborne they hit 60 kph, often travelling 600 km in a single night between feeding grounds.
Beyond the flamingos, large pods of hippo are permanent residents, and the reeds hold pelicans, Egyptian geese, storks, grey-headed kingfishers and long-crested eagles. In the dry season the receding water leaves a soda crust where giraffe, wildebeest and zebra come down to drink — a striking contrast of golden plain and pink-rimmed lake, with troops of baboon in the ground-water forest and the park’s celebrated tree-climbing lions draped in the sausage trees.
Where you can stay
Most places to stay sit outside the park, on the Rift Valley escarpment and in the nearby highlands.
They sit a short drive from the gate — often 10 to 40 minutes — so you can reach the park early.
These same highland locations also work well as a base for Ngorongoro Crater, which is a short drive further along the same route.
Plan your Lake Manyara safari
Bring your Lake Manyara story to the team.
Direct line
Tanzania office
P.O. Box 746, Usa-River, Arusha
Half an hour of forest,
and then the whole lake.