Manyara National Park

An isolated lake subject to intense evaporation during the dry season, Lake Manyara is a slightly salty lake that is home to hippopotamus, flamingoes, and a large variety of aquatic life. Despite its salt content, it is safe for animals to drink and is a popular watering hole for the park’s animal population. During the wet season, Lake Manyara swells to a sizable body of water perfect for guided canoe safaris. During the dry season, it can shrink to such a small size that it is almost possible to walk across it. Discover Lake Manyara National Park from a 4x4 with an English-speaking guide and drive through the village of Mto Wa Mbu to get a taste of traditional Tanzanian life. When water is present, it is possible to see klipspringer, rock hyrax, and porcupines by the lake’s edge, and a wide variety of birds including Ruppel’s Griffon, Verreaux’s Eagle, the Augur Buzzard, the Peregrine Falcon, and an abundance of flamingoes call the lake home during the year.

Itinerary (Day by Day):

After breakfast, you are met by our professional tour guide, who will deliver a short safari info briefing, after which we travel west to the Great Rift Valley and the Lake Manyara National Park. We will travel through the agricultural and fresh produce market town of Mto Wa Mbu, which is situated next to the entrance of the Lake Manyara National Park. The Lake Manyara National Park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located African wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment.

The park’s varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa’s densely populated African elephant herds, Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos, attracted by the algae in the lake. We will enjoy a picnic lunch inside the park and do two exciting morning and afternoon game drives, in search of the tree-climbing lions. Late afternoon we depart for Arusha from Lake Manyara where we will end our safari adventure.