Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is among the astonishing parks located in northern Tanzania. The park offers beautiful landscapes and is home to amazing African wildlife.

Lake Manyara National Park is among the astonishing parks located in northern Tanzania. The park offers beautiful landscapes and is home to amazing African wildlife. The soda & alkaline lake is shallow and reaches a maximum depth of 3.7 m while the vegetation changes from groundwater forests to flood plains and lastly to vachellia woodlands. Lake Manyara National park covers an area of 325 km2 which about 230 km2 is of the lake surface. Lake Manyara is located 124 km from Arusha town between the Ngorongoro conservation area and Tarangire National Park. It is a 2h 30mins drive from Tanzania’s main tourist hub, Arusha city. The park is famous for the tree-climbing lions, the concentration of elephants, and large groups of migratory birds.

HISTORY OF LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK.

The area was used as a hunting ground for many years. In the year of 1957, the area was upgraded to a game reserve status before declared as a national park in the year of 1960.

It was the second protected area in Tanzania to be declared as a National park, (Serengeti is the 1st).

LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK HIGHLIGHTS

WHY VISIT LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK.
Lake Manyara is among Tanzania’s national parks with an abundance of wild resources. This makes it to be a perfect spot for experiencing an African wildlife safari. Here follows are some of the attractions and activities which can be conducted and found within the area.
• The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions.
• A great number of faunas, avifauna, and flora species (wildlife).
• Rift valley escarpment, which gives a stunning view of the area.
• The Lake Manyara (home to the thousands of aquatic bird species).
• Culture and history of the place.
• The vegetation of Lake Manyara.
• Home to the largest concentration of baboons than anywhere else in the world.

WHAT TO DO IN LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK.

• Night game drive.
This type of activity will give you a chance to experience African bushes by night. Some of the African wild animals are impossible ones to spot on normal day game drives.
Night drives at Lake Manyara National Park are particularly spectacular, with the moon reflecting off the lake.
• Day game drives.
This is another way of exploring and experiencing the African wilderness. It is a very famous and well-known way of seeing animals in the wild. Normally the activity is conducted from early morning to late evening.
The reason behind this is most of the animals tend to be more active during the cooler time of the day. Lake Manyara national park offers both the night game drives as well as day game drives.
• Canoeing
In Lake Manyara, you can now enjoy the extraordinary experience of waterside game viewing. From the safe shallow waters of this beautiful soda lake, guests paddle silently along the shoreline in two-man canoes.
Wandering past different wild animals such as buffalo, giraffe, and elephants on the banks and walloping hippo and fabulous aquatic bird life in the water. This is the most scarce and memorable safari seeing wildlife from a whole new perspective. “Wildlife from the Water-side”
• Become a Bird-lover
The presence of different habitats in Lake Manyara makes it an ideal home for the birdlife and bird watchers. Manyara has different forms of habitats. from the underground water forest the lake it safe up to the woodlands.
There are over 400 species of birds in Lake Manyara National Park, making it a wonderful destination for the birder. An example of birds that are found in Lake Manyara such as African spoonbills, flamingos, stocks, pelicans, and most of the aquatic birds.

Treetop walkway.
Lake Manyara Treetop Walkway lets you have an exciting sky-high adventure straight through the forest.
This 370 m airwalk, lets you walk right among the treetops, giving you a bird’s eye view of the forest.
The treetop walkway starts right from the short board-walk and eventually rises in altitude leading to a series of hold-up bridges with protective nets on either side.
• Walking safaris.
A safari is not complete without a walking experience. Lake Manyara offers this different form of safari experience. This will let you even more closely with the African bushes meanwhile experiencing a safari world in a different eye.
Expect unexpected and see the unseen, Yes! While on a walking safari you may encounter things you have never seen them before while on a normal game drive.

BEST TIME TO VISIT LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK.

Watching wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park can be done throughout the year, but it is the best from late June to October, during the Dry season.
However, trips to the area can be customized regarding the visitor’s interests. For example, June to October is the ideal time for the big game viewing as most of the bushes are thinner and grasses are shorter giving a good animal view.
But for the bird lovers, (especially flamingos) the ideal time for flamingo flocks enjoyment in lake Manyara is from November in which thousands of flamingos arrive from their breeding site Lake Natron and gather in Lake Manyara up to late April before migrating to the other.

HOW TO GET TO LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK.
Lake Manyara is among the famous parks in the northern circuit safari in Tanzania. The park is located 124 km (2hrs 30 min) drive from the main tourist hub, Arusha.
There are two means of getting to this astonishing Tanzanian safari park. The first one is by land and the other one is air. The presence of the tarmac road from Arusha to the main entrance gate of Lake Manyara, make it even easier to access the park by road.
Also, another quick way of getting to the area is by air. There are airstrips in the park facilitating the landing and taking off for the visitors.