Lake Manyara

Location: Arusha Region, Great Rift Valley, Northern Tanzania
Climate: Remains hot most of the year, rains in Apr, May and Nov.
Typical Landscape: Soda lake, with fig tree and acacia forests, and flat mud plains at dry times of year.

Lake Manyara National Park is based around a shallow lake in the Great Rift Valley, just an hour’s scenic drive from Arusha and Kilimanjaro. Ernest Hemingway famously named it the ‘loveliest lake in Africa’. Lake Manyara National Park is 329 sq km, and the lake’s waters are incredibly alkaline and cover 231 sq km of Manyara National Park.

   

Lake Manyara National Park is home to a huge variety of wildlife, and is especially famous for huge herds of elephant and buffalo, and tree climbing lions, as well as being a birders paradise with over 300 species of bird including flamingo, long-crested eagle and grey headed kingfisher. Giant fig trees and mahogany make up a thick forest full of activity from the resident wildlife. This small but bustling park can be covered in just over two hours, unless you get held up by an extraordinary wildlife sight, which is highly likely here.

The Luxury Safari Company’s favourite camps in Lake Manyara is Lake Manyara Tree Lodge – these all combine beautifully as a Northern Tanzania Circuit safari (including the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater) and beach holiday, with beach options on Zanzibar, Mozambique, and the Tanzania Coast.