Overview
Location: Approximately 2.5 hours from Arusha on the road en route to the Ngorongoro Crater
Animals: Elephants, Wildebeest, Buffalo, Hippo, Impala, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Klipspringers, Zebra, Giraffe, Mongoose, Warthog, Leopards and the famous tree-climbing Lions, Blue Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, Baboons, and over 380 bird-species including impressive flocks of Flamingos feeding on the lake’s algae.
Activities: Biking, Hiking, Game drive
Description
This beautiful park is famous for its tree climbing lions, large buffalo, wildebeest, baboons, blue monkeys, elephants and perfect introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. Stretching for 50km along the base of rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is scenic gem , with a setting described by Ernest Hemingway, as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa’’. It consists of a thin green band of forest, white-hot shores of an ancient soda lake .This wedge of surprisingly varied vegetation supports a wealth of wildlife, nourished by the streams flowing out of the escarpments base and waterfalls spilling over the cliffs.
It has greatest concentration of species of bird, more than 400 species have been recorded and you can observe up to 100 of them in a single dat. It has thousands of pink hued flamingos on their perpetual migration; also it includes large water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. Acacia woodland shelters the park’s famous tree-climbing lions, lying among the branches in the heat of the day. Feeding in the undergrowth or dozing in the dry riverbeds is a country’s densest populations of buffalo and elephants.
In the deep southern side of the park, hot springs, bubbles to the surface as hippo wallow near the lake’s sedge-lined borders.
Bird watching: ThePark’s dazzling variety of birds includes thousands of red-billed quelea flitting over the water, pelicans, cormorants and the pink flamingos. There are over 380 bird species including EUrasian migrant birds,Acacia associated birds,raptor and 3 endangered species.The lake is also a feeding ground the flamingos gathering in then of thousands or several making it a great spot for flamingo watching.