Lake Manyara National Park

Things To Do

Experience nature like nowhere else: the park’s diverse vegetation is said to support up to 11 diverse ecosystems at once, making it unsurprising that a Lake Manyara safari lures in large number of visitors year after year. However, despite its relatively small size, navigating through the national park can be a daunting task. Despite of being one of the small National Park in Tanzania but here are the most top world class of activities to be done during the visit.

Lake Manyara Treetop Walking

Lake Manyara Treetop Walkway allows you to have a thrilling sky-high adventure straight through the forest. This 370 m airwalk, lets you to walk right among the treetops, giving you a bird's eye view of the forest. The treetop walkway starts right from the short board-walk and eventually rises in altitude leading to a series of suspension bridges with secure netting on either side. The bridge rise to a total altitude of 18 m off the ground, and allow you to enjoy the fauna and flora of the forest facilitated by tour guides who can point out each of the varying species, and give you interesting tidbits about each kind.

Become a Bird Lover

Lake Manyara National Park may be one of the best parks in Tanzania to engage in birding: with close to 400 bird species including migrating birds from Eurasian locations, and 3 species that are unique and endangered to Tanzania. A majority of the birds that can be seen often migrate from Lake Natron where they breed, to Lake Manyara which acts as their feeding ground. This means that the floodplains of Lake Manyara are populated with spectacular species such as the Grey crowned crane, Fischer’s sparrow lark, pink lesser flamingos and the Crowned Plover.

Day & Night Game Drives

Starting from the morning, late morning or afternoon, a day game drive in Lake Manyara National park gives you a chance to freshen up, relax, and explore the lake Manyara wilderness while discussing the sightings with your safari guide. As well, Night game drive is unique experience; you can have an opportunity to see wildlife in a more different way. On top of all, night game drive is usually magnificent as it coincides with the nocturnal animal’s timing. Animals like leopards, hippos, and lions like to operate during the night hours.

A whiff of Adventure ( Canoeing)

Lake Manyara National Park also has the distinction of being one of the fe w national parks in Tanzania that allows canoeing! By canoeing at Lake Manyara, you will be able to get up close and personal with dozens of aquatic species and specie s of birds such as the pink flamingoes that gather near the water to relax and relieve their thirst. Lake Manyara is also home to a number of giraffes and elephants all of w hich can be seen with a closer look as you canoe past them into the serene waters.

Cultural Tour

Surrounding Lake Manyara Tanzania are villages of the Maasai people who live in their quaint circular huts made of mud and straw which they refer to as Bombas. The Maasai are very friendly and often break into song and dance as they welcome you to their village.If you are looking for a taste of the indigenous cultural heritage you must visit some of the neighboring villages where you can also taste the local cuisine and mingle with the locals, to understand the rich culture of Tanzania better.

When To Visit

Although Lake Manyara National Park offers reasonable wildlife viewing throughout the year, the Dry season, from June to October, is the best time. Wildlife is easier to spot because vegetation is thinner and animals gather around predictable water sources. The Wet season, from November to May, offers the most beautiful scenery, but roads can sometimes become slippery and difficult to negotiate.

Despite weather challenges, Lake Manyara national park is still a very good park to visit the whole year-round. While the offseason & wetter months of November to May can give some challenges to spot wildlife compared to June all the way to October, these months are still the best when it comes to;
Getting best deals,
Quiet & less crowded park
Stunning scenery nourished by the rains
Fantastic birding

If you’re going to visit Lake Manyara National park in the high season (June to October) and you don’t like the overcrowding, I would suggest you do your game drive in the Morning hours as during these months the park tend to get overcrowded in the afternoon.