Lake Manyara

Located approximately 130 km from Arusha town, nestling by the wall of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the oldest and most popular sanctuary in East Africa. The park has a large variety of habitats, making it possible to support a wealth wildlife in its small area. The main habitats include the shallow soda lake itself which occupies 77% of the National Park’s total area of about 320 kmq, the ground water forest, open grassland, acacia woodland and the rift wall. The most famous spectacular in the park are the tree-climbing lions, which are occasionally seen along branches of acacia trees, the sulphurous hot spring water about 60° nicknamed “Maji Moto”(hot water) offers a rare spectacular. Other animals found in the park include buffalo, elephant, leopard, baboon, impala, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and hippo. Popularly referred to as an ornithologist’s paradise, Lake Manyara National Park contains over 400 birds species found in most savanna and river areas in East Africa. Common water birds seen here includes; pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese and the migratory flamingoes, which arrive in hundreds of thousands creating one of Africa’s great natural sights over the soda lake.