Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park got its name from Maasai word for Euphorbia tirucal ‘emanyara’ a milky weed used by masa as hedge to form stockade for their cattle. Lake Manyara National Park covers an area of about 330 square Km of which 200 square Km is the Lake when water level is high. The Park is located in Northern Tanzania about 1.5 hours drive (120 Km) west of Arusha along a newly surfaced road close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu. Most of our Northern Tanzania safari Itinerary starts with Lake Manyara National Park.

Mto wa Mbu is a Swahili which means Mosquito Creek. This is a town adjacent to the Great Rift Valley growing fruits and vegetables hence been a busy town selling fruits and vegetables produced around the village. The town has become a temporary stop over for tourists and campers. The park is well known for its beautiful scenary as it stretches 50km from the base of the rusty-gold 600-meter high Rift Valley escarpment with lot of underground water streams flows to the Lake. This ever green Park is home to many animal species and birds which include herds buffalo, elephant, giraffe, baboons, impalas, warthog, hippos etc.

Lake Manyara National Park provides a perfect introduction to Tanzania’s bird life. More than 400 species have been recorded and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to spot about 100 bird species in one day. The highlight include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. The major unique features of this Park are the famous Lake Manyara tree-climbing lion as well as the Sulfur Springs known as Majimoto (Hot water) located on the Northern tip of the Park.

The Lake Manyara tree climbing lion are occasionally spending most of their day napping along the branches of umbrella acacia trees five to seven meters from the ground.

Lake Manyara National Park Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit Lake Manyara is during dry Season July to October for large mammal viewing and wet season November to June for bird watching and canoeing safaris within the Lake.