About two hours from Arusha, the road to Ngorongoro reaches the village of Mto wa Mbu and the gate of Lake Manyara National Park. The park is a narrow strip of land between the wall of the Rift Valley and a shallow alkaline lake, and in a short distance it runs from tall groundwater forest through acacia woodland to open floodplain.
It is small and can be seen in half a day, which is exactly why it fits so well at the start of a safari. The variety is remarkable: several hundred bird species have been recorded, baboons move in troops of a hundred or more, and elephants are often seen at close range in the forest.
Top things to do: Lake Manyara National Park
Drive through the groundwater forest
Springs at the base of the escarpment feed a forest of mahogany, fig and sausage trees that stays green all year. Look for blue monkeys, baboons, bushbuck and elephants, and for silvery-cheeked hornbills overhead.
Look for the tree-climbing lions
Manyara is famous for lions that rest in the branches of acacia and mahogany trees. They do exist, but they are not often seen — consider it luck rather than an expectation.
Birds and hippos on the lakeshore
The floodplain holds buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe, a hippo pool, and — when water levels suit them — large flocks of flamingos and pelicans far out on the lake.
Walk above the trees or explore Mto wa Mbu
The park has a treetop canopy walkway, and the neighbouring village of Mto wa Mbu offers guided walking and cycling tours through banana plantations, rice fields and markets.
How to get to Lake Manyara National Park
- By road it is about 125 km from Arusha, around two hours on tarmac.
- Lake Manyara airstrip, on top of the escarpment, has scheduled flights from Arusha and the Serengeti.
- From Karatu the gate is about 30 to 45 minutes away, making Manyara an easy day or half-day safari.
Insider tips
- Go early or late in the afternoon; the forest is quiet in the midday heat.
- The lake level changes greatly between years. In very wet years parts of the lakeshore tracks are flooded; in very dry ones the water retreats far from the road.
- With limited time, many travellers choose Tarangire over Manyara in the dry season and Manyara in the green months, when it is at its most beautiful.
Best tours & safaris: Lake Manyara National Park
These experiences are the easiest way to see Lake Manyara National Park:
Day trip from €285 Arusha: Lake Manyara National Park Full-Day Safari
A day safari to Lake Manyara National Park, a compact park below the Rift Valley escarpment on the road to Ngorongoro. Expect groundwater forest, big baboon troops, hippos and — when water levels suit them — flamingos. A newer listing without many reviews yet.
- Groundwater forest and lakeshore
- Baboons, elephants, hippos and birdlife
- New listing — few reviews yet
Multi-day safari from €1015 Tanzania: 5-Day Safari to Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Manyara
Five days around the parks closest to Arusha — Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater — without the long haul to the Serengeti. Shorter drives mean more time watching animals. This is a newer listing with few or no reviews yet, so read the itinerary closely.
- Three parks at an unhurried pace
- Shorter drives than a Serengeti loop
- New listing — few reviews yet
Day trip from €281 Arusha: Tarangire National Park Day Safari
A day safari to Tarangire, the closest of the big northern parks to Arusha. In the dry season elephants gather along the Tarangire River in large numbers, and the baobab-dotted landscape looks nothing like the crater. A good first or last day around a Ngorongoro trip.
- Elephant herds along the Tarangire River
- Giant baobabs
- Roughly two to two and a half hours from Arusha
