Lake Manyara

The alkaline soda of Lake Manyara is home to an incredible array of bird life that thrives on its brackish waters. Pink flamingo stoop and graze by the thousands, colourful specks against the grey minerals of the lakeshore. Yellow-billed storks swoop and corkscrew on thermal winds rising up from the escarpment and herons flap their wings against the sun-drenched sky. Even reluctant bird-watchers will find something to watch and marvel at within the national park.

Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to pay this park a visit. They make the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the rainy season and are a well-known but rather rare feature of the northern park. In addition to the lions, the national park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world - a fact that makes for interesting game viewing of large families of these primates. Giraffe and elephant are two other species that you should see in the Park. Although both of these species do occasionally visit the floor of the more popular Ngorongoro Crater you have a far greater chance of seeing them at Lake Manyara.

The lake is located close to the town of Mto wa Mbu (River of Mosquitoes). The town owes its existence to its proximity to Lake Manyara and an irrigation project that turned the surrounding swampland into farmland. Shortly after Tanzania’s independence forcible resettlement into the area resulted in an extraordinary ethnic mix. Almost 50 different tribes now live in and around the town, some of which can be visited as part of a Cultural Tourism programme. When visiting Lake Manyara we tend to use one of the camps close to Mto wa Mbu.