Lake Manyara National Park

Although it is Tanzania’s smallest park, Lake Manyara is one of the most diverse reserves in the country. The beautiful Lake Manyara covers two thirds of the park, while the rest consists of steep mountainside, swamps, dense woodlands, open grassy areas and hot springs.

Lake Manyara is one of the many alkaline lakes of the Great Rift Valley. It was formed about three million years ago and is quite shallow, with an average depth of about three metres. The lake attracts hundreds of birds species. In high vegetation near the park entrance, baboons and black monkeys charter between cicada shrills. More than 350 species of birdlife are found in Lake Manyara – including pelicans, Egyptian geese, ducks, waders, herons, storks, grebes, ibises, kingfishers and the flamingoes. The extraordinary birdlife has made this place world-renowned among ornithologists,

The park is famed for its unique tree-climbing lions. The rare sight of seeing the king of the beasts sprawled in the bough of a tree is an unforgettable sight.
The wall of the Great Rift Valley forms the backdrop before which lies the ground water forest, areas of open grassland near the lake foreshore, and the Soda Lake.