Lake Manyara National Park is a beautiful place to go on safari. It is known for its beautiful scenery and huge soda lake that covers almost 75% of its area. There is a lot of wildlife in the park, like elephants, lions that climb trees, and big groups of baboons in the forests. Animals like buffalo, warthogs, giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, and many kinds of birds can be found near the lake. This is a great place for nature lovers because it has a huge range of landscapes, from thick jungle forests and lush acacia woods to tall mountain cliffs and open grasslands.

Escarpment of Rift Valley

Lake Manyara is also a great spot to see the Rift Valley Escarpment, which is 400 meters high and looks amazing. The Great Rift Valley is a long crack in the ground that goes along the east coast of Africa. It was made when the earth’s crust broke apart about 20 to 25 million years ago. This huge feature is so big that you can see it from space; it looks like two lines running down Africa. Its varied landscapes create unique environments that are home to a huge range of plants and animals.

Check out our Tanzania tours to see how you can include Lake Manyara in your trip.

Trips and things to do in Lake Manyara National Park
Drive for night games
The Treetop Walk or Canopy Walk
Tour by mountain bike Cultural tour of Lake Manyara Mto wa Mbu
Go see the Maasai tribe or the Hadzabe tribe.
Time to travel The Manyara Lake
It takes 2.5 hours to drive from Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park.
One hour to get from Lake Manyara National Park to Tarangire National Park
It takes an hour to get from Lake Manyara National Park to Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Five hours to get from Lake Manyara National Park to Serengeti
Here are some travel tips from our pros about Lake Manyara
My name is Mark, and I’ve been a tour guide at Lake Manyara National Park for 15 years.
There aren’t many bigger parks in northern Tanzania, so it’s easy to combine a game drive with other trips or activities. A cultural tour on a mountain bike is a favorite of our guests. Other things they like are the canoeing safari and the Treetop Walk.

How long are you staying? One day

Which hotel? Our guests love the Lake Manyara Hotel because it has great views, nice staff, and tasty food.

The best time to go to Lake Manyara

In Lake Manyara, the dry season, from July to October, is the best time to see animal groups. If you like birds, the park is best seen from November to June. You can see a lot of birds this time of year, like pelicans, the African fish eagle, hornbills, hamerkops, black herons, little bee-eaters, and more.