Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania | Premium Africa Safaris
Get a complete guide to help you plan your first-time Tanzania safari to explore the vibrant Lake Manyara National Park, home to the unique tree-climbing lions and breathtaking landscapes.
Discover amazing facts about Lake Manyara National Park, a stunning game park in Tanzania, including its size, park entry fees, and more.
You can also expect to explore the various attractions, activities such as game drives, accommodations, and the best ways to get there.
Lake Manyara National Park is located on the Great Rift Valley floor and boasts the breathtaking Rift Valley escarpment.
This park lies in the Northern circuit of Tanzania (between Arusha and the Manyara region), and features among the premier African wildlife safari destinations.
Established in 1957 as a Game Reserve and in 1960, Lake Manyara was later upgraded to a National Park in Tanzania. Currently, it sits on the area of 648 sq. km and is managed by the Tanzania National Parks Authority.
Lake Manyara National Park is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, and an extensive part of it is also recognized as Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve.
Today, it is one of the notable places to explore in the Northern tourist circuit of Tanzania.
Unique Attractions in Lake Manyara National Park
Vegetation
Lake Manyara contains a total of about 670 flowering plants and fern species. These make up the varied habitat zones in the park, and hold diverse rare/endemic species.
The unique vegetation in Lake Manyara National Park includes the evergreen groundwater forest, mostly dominated by trichilia roka with broad-leaved croton, quinine tree, sycamore fig, and forest toad-tree.
Along the streams, expect to find dense tree cover, while at the edge of the groundwater forest area, you can find the yellow fever trees.
The park is also dominated by palm trees, and on western part, you can find the woodlands that consist of acacia.
Around the Simba River, there are mostly swamps where you can find water lilies. The grasslands dominate the dry areas of the park.
Wildlife (Mammal Species)
Lake Manyara National Park holds a huge concentration of mammals, including different species that migrate from the Tarangire National Park.
The notable wildlife to explore on a Tanzania wildlife safari in Lake Manyara National Park includes the Thomson’s gazelles, blue monkeys, Grant’s gazelles, and zebras.
A great population of wildebeest and plains game from the Mto wa Mbu Game Controlled Area accesses Lake Manyara from the Northern part, but this happens in a short period of time.
The different herbivores that reside in Lake Manyara include Maasai giraffes, African bush elephants, cape bushbucks, waterbucks, baboons, plain zebras, impalas, warthogs, buffalo, hippos, and more.
The common predators to expect to find on wildlife viewing in Lake Manyara National Park include black-backed jackals, lions, serval, leopards.
Honey badger, African wildcat, bat-eared fox, spotted hyenas, and jackals all reside in this park. Occasionally, you can also spot the African golden cats and cheetahs.
Butterfly Species
A total of about 180 butterfly species have been recorded in Lake Manyara National Park, which makes it a potential butterfly-watching destination.
Bird Species
Lake Manyara National Park is one of the Important Bird Areas in Tanzania, with a record of about 400 species of birds.
The birds of interest in Lake Manyara Park include pied kingfishers, African jacanas, southern ground hornbills, sacred ibis, comb ducks, little stint, barnacle goose, sanderling, lesser and greater flamingos.
Lake Manyara Safari Park also holds birds such as Uluguru bushshrikes, pied avocet, Pemba white-eye, spur-winged goose, Moreau’s sunbird, Pemba sunbird, and more.
Activities to do in Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park
While in Lake Manyara Safari Park, expect to experience the best of treetop canopy walk, walking safaris, game drives, canoeing, and bird watching.
Game drives
Guided game drives offer a rare opportunity for tourists to embark on a remarkable journey to explore the diverse animals that reside in the Lake Manyara protected area.
The park offers day and night game drive sessions, each promising excellent encounters in the wild. The possible sightings during the game drive safari in Lake Manyara include the Big game, including the tree-climbing lions.
Canoeing tours
Visitors can also enjoy enriching canoeing experiences. Explore with an expert the rich Lake Manyara’s species on a canoe ride.
Expect to observe diverse aquatic water birds, hippos, and many other animals that congregate around the lake for water.
Walking experiences
Experience the best of guided bush walking expeditions in Tanzania only on a safari in Lake Manyara protected area.
Walking excursions in this introduce you to the finest habitats and hardly reached spots, each with abundant species.
Treetop canopy walk
Lake Manyara Game Park is one of the exceptional parks in Tanzania and East Africa, where you can enjoy the treetop canopy experience. The canopy walk offers breathtaking views of the park’s landscape, monkeys, and bird-watching opportunities.
Best time by months to visit Lake Manyara National Park
The Tanzania Safaris to Lake Manyara can be arranged at any time of the year. Although the dry season often wins the hearts of many nature enthusiasts.
The dry season records the least rainfall amount or completely no rainfall, making it the best time to visit this park for wildlife/game viewing.
On the travel calendar, the dry season in Lake Manyara Wildlife Park is recorded from June to October.
From June to October, the vegetation cover in Lake Manyara remains thinner and clearer. It is also easier to navigate through the wildlife habitats while on a game drive.
The wet months/seasons record heavy rains, and this is true especially from November to May.
The Lodges and Camps Present
As a complete Tanzania wildlife safari destination, Lake Manyara Game Park has a record of comfortable lodge and camp options for tourists to retire for a night.
The available accommodation properties offer midrange and luxury services, though it is possible to also find budget options.
Top lodges to secure for overnight stay here include Escarpment Luxury Lodge, Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge, & Maramboi Tented Lodge.
And Beyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, Suricata Boma Lodge, Mawe Mawe Manyara Lodge, and Lake Manyara Kilimanjaro Lodge.
How to get to Lake Manyara National Park (by road/by air, park entrance fees & access gates)
From Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park is only 126 km. The proximity to the heart of Arusha makes it one of the most accessible destinations by road.
Overall, you can drive for about 1-2 hours, and you can reach the Manyara park entrance gate. The main park entrance points to Lake Manyara Game Park include the Northern gate, which is found close to Mto wa Mbu town and often preferred by tourists on game drives and the treetop walkway tour.
The Southern gate is the least used, but is often used by visitors from Ngorongoro/Tarangire National Park or those traveling to these two protected areas. The Lake Manyara park gates are open to guests from 6:30am to 6:00pm.
How much is the Lake Manyara National Park entry fee
Currently, the park entry fees to Lake Manyara cost USD 59 per day for foreign non-residents. This applies to adults above 16 years and children of the age range of 5-15 years under the foreign non-resident category, who pay USD 20.
The expatriate adults (foreign residents) pay a park entry fee of USD 30 per day.
The vehicle fee is excluded from the park entry charges and is mainly based on the weight. The vehicle fee is about USD 40 and applies to foreign –registered cars.