Lake Manyara National Park

An amazing place to experience safari

With the Ngorogoro crater being the star attraction, it would be easy to overlook Lake Manyara for a safari. However, thankfully, we didn't and had an amazing time there.
We saw a wide range of wildlife such as Elephants, Babboons, Sea Eagles, Kingfishers as well as Flamingo's which the park is famous for.
The scenery in the park varies. When you enter, you travel through forest but once you reach the viewpoints over the lake, the land stretches on for miles over open plains.
We were there in August and the temperature was moderate (mid 20's) so pleasant enough without being unbearable.
The park is less crowded than Ngorogoro which means that it feels a little more personal.
If you only had one day to do a safari, would I pick Lake Manyara?.....well probably not because Ngorogoro is deservedly one of the most incredible places I've visited. However, don't overlook Manyara; you'll have a different but amazing time there too.

Beautifull place

I started my Tanzania trip in Lake Manyara and there was my first wildlife encounters of my eastern Africa trip
Drive around the Rift Valley is an awsome experience and we found a lot of wildlife there
Baboons, Blue and Vervet monkeys in the jungles, Elephants, giraffes, buffalos, waterbucks, dik dik, zebras, hippos are easy to spot
One of the best thinks is the new flamingo watching platform. I spent hours there watching and photographing flamingos.

Lake Manyara
Absolutely Worth it

One of The Beauty of Tanzania

First I would like to thank our very knowledgeable tour guide (Moses), he made this an unforgettable trip of a lifetime. The weather was wonderful that day it was not too hot and the wind was a little breezy. We stayed about an hour from Lake Manyara National Park, and the drive from the hotel to the park was as beautiful as I have never seen before. The land was green and beautiful people everywhere.
When you get to the park you are greeted by a troop of baboons and free WiFi, so don't be shy to post pictures when you are there. The drive through the park you see beautiful birds like the African grey hornbill, then you will see giraffes and herds of elephants. The tour only gets better from there especially when you visit the hippo pool and get very close to more elephants crossing the road. The herds of African Buffalo are very eye catching notably when they start shaking their heads.
Moses had packed a very tantalizing lunch that included some sandwiches and some of Tanzanian best foods like samosa, chapati, kitumbua, many other eatables and some drinks and desert.
The highlight apart from the whole enjoyment, was Moses who had a nice vehicle for a Safari and as a local he knew the best places and times to see the animals as they come out to feed or relax.

Lake Manyara is a perfect place for birdwatchers and a gentle introduction to safari for others.

We've seen lots of Elephants in the Lake Manyara National Park. Really, lots of them. And they were so close! We didn't manage to get so close to elephants in Serengeti as we did in Manyara.
It's also a terrific place for bird-watching. We were not a great birds enthusiasts but seeing so many flamingos at one place was a wonderful experience.
If you are not a birdwatcher I would recommend visiting Manyara before entering Serengeti. It's just a great introduction to Safari. You can also spend a night near Manyara in a comfortable lodge instead of campsite. Lodges are much cheaper here than in Serengeti or Ngorongoro.

A beautiful park but a bit difficult to find wildlife such as lions and elephants.

Seemed to have to stay on the path and so even though there was a lot of wildlife, it was difficult to get close. Great place to stop and have lunch.

Evocative sunset

We visited Lake Manyara National Park only in the afternoon because our plane was in late so we weren't able to visit all the park (organization of the guides is the most important requirement for this travels).
The park is very large and offer a good opportunity for the birdwatching. We were able to see storks, hornbills, flamingos, ibis, baboons, zebras, gnu, buffalo, hippos, gazelles, antelopes.
I know the park is a good place to see the leopards activity not only in the night but we unfortunately weren't able to see them. We visited the park until the sunset, the light is so warm and weak and all the photo we took have so nice colours. At the end of the day we covered the near hills so we could admire the Lake from the top of the hills...it is so long and suggestive.

Wonderful piece of Tanzania. Must see!

During our safari, Lake Manyara NP was our 1st destination. We heard about lions on trees, thousands flamingos over the lake, but nobody told us that it contains wonderful landscapes! We were sad we cannot visit the lake from near, our guide said it is forbidden to go outside streets and go closer to the lake.
We were happy there weren't too many tourits around there, it was really quiet and peaceful.
Absolutely recommended!

Lush !

It is a refreshing new vista which you would not expect in Africa.Gorgeous scenery and we saw elephants up close .We were not lucky to see the tree climbing lions but saw wildlife in plenty.Lots of birds and trees and little rivulets which made it so pretty.Park facilities were excellent though we just visited for a day.

Limited wildlife but quite scenic