Located about 125km west of Arusha town, under the wall of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the oldest and most popular parks in East Africa. It has a large variety of habitats, making it possible to support a wealth of wildlife in its small area.
These include the ground water forest, open grasslands, the acacia woodland, the rift wall and the shallow soda lake, which in itself occupies 70% of the National Park total area of 330 square kilometres.
The park is famously known for its tree-climbing lions, which are occasionally seen along branches of acacia trees. Other animals found include buffalos, elephants, leopards, baboons, impala, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and hippos. Popularly referred to as an ornithologist’s paradise, Lake Manyara National Park contains over 400 bird species. Common water birds to be seen here are pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese, hammer kops and the migratory flamingos, which arrive in vast numbers creating one of Africa’s great natural sights over the soda lake.