Lake Manyara National Park’s visitor attractions: Situated in the Great Rift Valley and Arusha and Manyara areas of Tanzania, Lake Manyara national park is a well-liked destination for Tanzania safaris running on the northern safari circuit towards Ngorongoro conservation area and Serengeti national park. Comprising 330 square kilometers, Lake Manyara national park boasts two thirds of its area occupied by the well-known Lake Manyara.
Many amazing and magnificent sights in the Lake Manyara national park have made it a well-known Tanzania safari destination. These are as described and mentioned below.
Rich in animal species, Lake Manyara national park is the only location in Tanzania harboring the uncommon tree climbing lions and ranked among the top locations for Tanzania wildlife safaris due to the great population of species there. The animals of Lake Manyara national park live in a variety of plant zones including acacia woodlands, woodlands, floodplains and ground water forests.
The most concentration of elephants, leopards, giraffes, leopards, impalas, banded mongoose, Kirk’s dik-dik, bohor reedbucks and many more is found in Acacia woodlands and woodlands south of Msasa River. During your Tanzania wildlife safari in Lake Manyara national park, the best locations to spot these species are the acacia woodlands and forests there.
Many species including wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, elephants, and many more are spotted walking around the coastline plains in Lake Manyara national park’s floodplains.
Situated a few meters from Lake Manyara, the ground water forest in Lake Manyara national park is home to the largest troops of baboon in Africa and other primates including blue monkeys, vervet monkeys readily visible to visitors on their Tanzania game viewing safari.
Located on the Simba River, the hippo pool in Lake Manyara national park draws a lot of species including hippos, klipspringer, and many others.
Among other animals living in Lake Manyara national park are Thomson gazelles, grant’s gazelles, bush bucks, warthogs, bat-eared foxes, servals, honey badgers, the rare African golden cat, mongoose, cheetahs, African wild cat, spotted hyenas, black-backed jackal.
Prominent for hosting vast flocks of thousands of flamingoes concentrated along the edge of the Lake Manyara most especially in the wet season, the park boosts a bird checklist of over 400 species and is among the most important birding areas in Tanzania.
Thousands of pink backed pelicans, yellow bellied storks, grey heron, marabou stork, and many more call this groundwater forest, north of the lake, a nesting ground. Among the over forty species of birds of prey found in the groundwater forest are Ayre’s hawk eagle and palm nut vulture.
Many fascinating bird species, including egrets, stalks among others, stilts heron, spoonbills, black faced sandgrouse, live on the floodplains of Lake Manyara.
Among the many birds found in Acacia woodlands are crowned eagles, Narina Trogon, emerald cuckoo, crowned hornbill, ground dwelling crested guineafowl, Schalow’s turaco among others.
Your Tanzania birding trip in Lake Manyara national park reveals these exquisite birds.
Nestled in a shallow alkaline lake at an elevation of 960 meters above sea level with a maximum depth of 10 feet, Lake Manyara is the most popular tourist destination in Lake Manyara national park and an excellent location for Tanzania birding safaris. Covering two-thirds of Lake Manyara national park, the lake has a surface area of 470 square kilometers. Originally formed by the Great Rift Valley, the lake pooled formed the present day Lake Manyara as the rift widened over the years and streams descended its continually eroding slopes. Lack of exits for Lake Manyara causes great evaporation, which accumulates salt and other minerals like the crusty white deposits of Soda sparkle like diamonds around the water’s edge. Hippos make the saline water their habitat; the concentration of minerals gives the water almost soapy in texture, but the water is not excessively salted for animals to consume.
With over 300 bird species including flamingoes, grey herons, yellow bellied storks, great white pelicans and many more, Lake Manyara draws a great concentration of animals and large flocks of flamingoes and other water birds making the lake a great site for Tanzania birding safari.
At the shoreline of water Manyara, there are thousands of pink flamingoes; the great concentration of birds draws to the water from the blue-green algae they eat. Viewed in great numbers on their towering stilts of legs, the flamingoes reflect their gorgeous plumage in the lake’s water.
The floodplains of Lake Manyara national park consist of grassy coastline appearing during the dry season when the water level drops; this exposes large areas of land adjacent the lake. During the dry season, in which salt tolerant grasses rise up and the land becomes a temporary home for grazing animals, floodplains are a unique habitat of wildlife and a great spot for wildlife viewing.
Fresh nutrient rich with grasses, floodplains of Lake Manyara national park draw many wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, elephants, these animals are readily observed in this area and spotting them will undoubtedly make your Tanzania game viewing in this park fantastic. Hippos spotted wallowing in the pool’s cold waters till dark find solace in the grassy flood plains during the night.
Another visitor attraction in Lake Manyara national park is ground water forest, which is located a few meters from the Great Rift escarpment crest. Ground water forest is a rare environment and a great place to visit during your Tanzania trip at Lake Manyara national park where you get to see the biggest troops of baboons in Africa, this forest is also home to many more including blue monkeys and vervet monkeys.
Supported by a continual source of ground water, ground water forest consists of lush evergreen forest of Mahogany tree and wild date palms. The trees in this forest have limbs wrapped in gnarled vines and mossy thu8s giving an antique and enigmatic appeal in the forest.
Ground water forest’s floor is covered in a rich carpet of wild hibiscus, ginger and other leafy plants blossoming in the moisture and shadows under the forest, graceful Antiaris and quinine trees are seen shooting up through the canopy of the forest floor as they stretch their leaved branches to the sky.
Ground water forest, sometimes referred to as the “swamp forest,” thrives on the permanent water reservoir accessible with a water table high enough that the thirsty network of roots zigzag below the dense foliage could readily access. The ecosystem found in the ground water forest can be quiet boggy at tines and in other places the water table is too high to support trees, in some other parts the landscape consists of marsh and swampy glades.
Acacia woodlands in Lake Manyara national park are a great habitat for wildlife and an amazing place to visit for game viewing during your Tanzania game viewing safari in the park; the legendary tree climbing lions, leopards, giraffes and other wildlife species dominates most areas of the park and they inhabit a great concentration of elephants.
Other trees in the acacia woodlands are the tamarind and sausage trees rising up with royal presence; acacia trees are flat topped or umbrella trees extending their leafy sunshade over the star grass on the ground below. Lake Manyara national park’s acacia woods specifically dominate the land between lake shore and the Great Rift Valley’s wall. Because of their shade and food supply, these trees draw a variety of herbivores that find ideal home here.
Among the animals found in the acacia woodlands are giraffes seen soaring through the gnarled treetops and leisurely browsing the twisted thorny branches, impalas seen gently picking their wat from the ground, squads of banded mongoose seen scurrying through clearings in the under bush, leopards seen lounging in the treetops and many more.
Located on the rift valley escarpment safeguarding an uncontaminated and unexplored environment rich in many species of flora and fauna, Marang Forest Reserve in Lake Manyara national park is a 250 square kilometer reserve consisting of highland situated on the southwest boundary of the park.
One of the historic migratory routes for elephants, Marang Forest Reserve provides cover for a large number of birds of prey and troops of baboons, blue monkeys and other types of monkeys. Marang woodland Reserve is ideal for bird viewing and monkey viewing during your Tanzania safari at Lake Manyara national park; the woodland has various herbivorous species including bushbucks.
Found on the southern side of Lake Manyara national park, the Maji Moto Springs are a really amazing sight. Their name, Slag from Swahili language meaning “hot water,” speaks to the hot water in springs boiling at 60°C. Perfect for a picnic, Maji Moto Springs are a natural spring with an isolated sanctuary of pure water surrounded by palm and fig trees. Travelers on a Tanzania trip will find unrivaled landscape here.
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