Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is one of the oldest parks in Tanzania which was officially categorized as a national park back in 1961. The park is very famous and very unique by having tree climbing lions due to is nature of moistures and tsetse flies force lions to spend their time on top of elegant acacia trees and mahogany trees. Apart from having these lions species also visitors will see four of the big five animals, varieties of birds, Lake shore with its associated activities like canoeing and many other attractions.

Lake Manyara national park is the one of the most visited national parks in Tanzania after Serengeti, Kilimanjaro and probably the Ngorongoro conservation area. It covers an area of 330Kilometer square while about 70% of the park is covered by the lake when the water level is high and the rest is land. The park is located Arusha (west of Arusha city) which is about 126km from Arusha town which is like 1.5hours by private transport and about 2.5hours by public transport. Lake manyara national park is closest to a very famous village Mto wa Mbu where approximately all ethnic groups of Tanzania are found here.

ACTIVITIES IN LAKE MANYARA NAIONAL PARK

Game driving- where visitors have a chance to observe all attractions found in the park by using special safari jeeps.

Canoeing – since large portion of the park is lake, then visitors normally have a chance to meet fishermen do canoeing activities when water level is acceptable for such an activity.

Bush lunch- there are open areas in the park which are favorable for who need bush lunch, areas are favorable and well conducive to accommodate different clients’ status.

Cultural tours – Being near to Mto wa Mbu village where all 120 tribes are found in this village, visitors have chances to do cultural tours.

Night game drive – The only perfect moment to spot and experience nocturnal life is during night time, so this will be easy to view nocturnal animals.

Picnics – There is a chance also for visitors to picnic around the park, there is well organized system to meet standards of picnic sites.

Mountain biking – the activity is organized from Mto wa Mbu where there are biking hiring groups particularly mountain bikes that are suitable to bike following the great valley escarpment which is about 600 meters.

Forest walking – there are special trails that are designed so that to conserve environment, forest walking is well organized and the tour will have an escort of a game range for the safety of visitors.
Bird watching – the park has more than 400 bird’s species, per day about 100 species can be observed. This makes bird watching activity easy and reliable for visitors.
Sightseeing – The activity is conducted on top of the rift valley escarpment where the general view of the park including the lake is seen clearly.

ATTRACTIONS FOUND IN LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

Animals; Four of the big five animals can be seen in the park with exception to rhino. Tree climbing lions, leopards, elephants, and buffalos are available though others depend on game viewing timing. Other animals are zebras, Thomson gazelles, wildebeest.
Birds – there are about 400 species of birds, due to presence of the lake the lake experience both terrestrial and aquatic birds that can be either dominant or migratory birds. Some of these are flamingos, doves, sterling, ducks, African paradise fly catchers and hundreds of others.
Lake Manyara. It is the one of soda alkaline lakes which the Great Rift Valley passes through. The view and the shore are the one among issues make it attractive for touristic activities and adventurous activities.
Hot spring – this is the natural phenomena whereby hot make a spring like action due to intrusive volcanic actions. Water is boiled to about 60˚C enough to boils an egg within 15 minutes.
Culture – the proximity to Mto wa Mbu may creates an interest to visit the area and experience 120 ethnic groups with their daily activities.

ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES

Accommodation is widely available both inside the park and outside the park ranges from bandas, tented campsites, touristic lodges and guest houses which are found in Mto wa Mbu. Lodges and touristic bandas and campsites are found inside the park, while outside the park there are campsites, lodges and guest houses are found few meters from the park’s gate.