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Overview
Small, green, and unlike anything else you will drive through that week.
The park is a ribbon of land between the Rift Valley escarpment and the soda lake itself. In a couple of hours you pass through groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the wall, then open floodplain, then acacia woodland.
It is often given a half day on the way to the crater. That works, but the park rewards a slower pass — the forest section in particular is full of birds and blue monkeys that most groups drive past.
Wildlife
- Flamingo
- Baboon
- Elephant
- Hippo
- Lion
- Blue monkey
What you actually see
Tree-climbing lions, sometimes
Manyara is famous for them and they are still not guaranteed. The habit appears to be local learning rather than anything unique to the population.
Enormous baboon troops
Among the largest recorded anywhere, which makes the social behaviour worth sitting with for half an hour.
Elephant in forest
Seeing elephant in closed canopy is a different experience from seeing them on open plains — you hear them long before you see them.
Birds, in volume
Over 400 species recorded. The lake edge in the wet season is the reason birders come to this park specifically.
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What the park is made of
Groundwater forest at the gate
Tall, closed canopy fed from below rather than by rain. Blue monkey, baboon troops of a hundred or more, silvery-cheeked hornbill.
The forest
Floodplain and soda water
Flamingo, pelican and storks when the water is right. The lake shrinks and swells dramatically between seasons.
The lake
The Rift escarpment behind it
Six hundred metres of it, immediately to the west, which is what makes the light here so good in the late afternoon.
The wall
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Where to stay
Lodge near Lake Manyara or Mto wa Mbu
Chosen for your month and your budget.
The kind of place and the area are fixed by the route. The property itself is chosen for your dates and budget, and named in your quote.
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Getting there
Getting there
About two hours by road from Arusha, at the foot of the Rift wall on the way to the crater.
Combine with
Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park
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Trips that include Lake Manyara
3-Day Tarangire & Ngorongoro
6-Day Big Five Safari
8-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro
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Best time to go
Best months · Jun–Oct
The dry season
Short grass and animals close to water. The busiest months, and the clearest game viewing.
Calving on the southern plains
The herds are on the short-grass plains around Ndutu, with predators to match.
The green season
Rain, long grass and far fewer vehicles — and some camps close for the long rains.
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When to go
08
More places to go
Ngorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcano with a resident population, including black rhino.
Tarangire National Park
Baobabs and the densest elephant concentrations of the circuit.
Ndutu & the Southern Plains
Calving season, and the predators that follow it.
