Diverse habitats! You won’t find as many habitats you find in a small region at any other parkin Tanzania. The beautiful escarpments, underground water forests, acacia woodlands, are some great features of Manyara that cannot be found in Tarangire or Ngorongoro or even Serengeti. The wide variety of habitats within a small area is unique to Manyara. Manyara also has blue monkeys that cannot be seen in Tarangire or Ngorongoro, along with large troops of baboons!

Night safari at Manyara can be done if you are up for the thrill of going into the park at night when nocturnal animals are active. Lions, Porcupines, grazing hippos, leopards, mongoose, civets, genets, bush babies, owls, there is a long list of nocturnal animals. Although, it must be noted that animal sightings on night game drives will be highly unpredictable. Many clients have spotted animals such as lions, genets, hippos, and civets. Some have even been lucky to find a Leopard. But many have had to come back only after spotting one or two animals. However, night safari is more than just about animals. Being in the middle of bush with no one around you and in near total cover of darkness and hearing night sounds from different directions is an exciting experience. So if you are visiting Manyara, we recommend you to consider Night game drives.

We recommend a night safari at Tarangire over Manyara, as Tarangire is bigger and wider and more open and has more abundant wildlife, so the chances of spotting nocturnal cats and animals like Lion, Leopard, and Hyena are higher. At Tarangire, only a few accommodations offer night game drives. These accommodations are again of two types. The ones that are located inside can arrange night safaris inside the park. Then there are accommodations that are located outside the park in Wilderness Management Areas or WMAs which border the park. So these organise night game drives outside the park. So to do night game drives at Tarangire, you need to stay at one of these accommodations, inside or outside the park, and we need to book night game drives with them in advance. Prices for night safari are lower for the lodges outside the park than the ones on the inside. But the experience of night game drives is much better inside the park than outside. At Manyara, night game drives are done by a third party tour operator and not by the accommodations. So night game drives at Manyara can be done by anyone visiting the national park, as long as their lodge can be reached within one hour from the park. The closer the better as we need to drive from park to accommodation after night game drive at 10:30 PM or so. At Manyara, if you decide to go for a night game drive on the same day you have done the day game drive, it will cost an additional $114 per person. This includes the night game drive permit fees of $59 per person. At Tarangire, price depends on the lodge but typically night game drives arranged by lodges outside the park cost lower and by the ones inside park cost higher, and it is also higher than the cost for night game drives at Manyara.

Most clients enter Lake Manyara from its Northern gate where you may visit the groundwater forest which is a breeding ground for birds like pelicans, storks and marabous. It also hosts baboons, blue monkeys, vervets and reptiles. The region is populated with lush evergreen trees like mahogany and figs. Floodplains along the shore of the lake is another region that can be visited. Elephants, zebras, and buffaloes are usually found in this region. Birds like egrets, herons, and stilts can be found here. Marang Forest Reserve located on the escarpment in the south west of the park is a region to be explored as well. Animals found in this reserve are similar to animals found in other areas. But this area is likely to be less crowded than the others. Acacia woodlands in the south have animals like reedbucks, dik-diks, leopards and giraffes. This region also has birds like hornbills, emerald cuckoos, and guineafowls. Maji Moto Spring, a hot water spring, surrounded by palm and fig trees is a scenic spot which is also within the southern part of the park. On a full day game drive you can visit all of the above spots.

Half day can be enjoyed at Manyara and you will see many of the animals that are commonly seen in the park but it won’t be possible to visit all the locations. You might have to miss out on the southern part of the park where hot springs can be seen. We do recommend clients to visit southern part (and hence a full day for Manyara) if possible as this part of the park gets fewer tourists and feels more wild. Also if you are interested in canoeing, treetop walkway then we strongly recommend spending a full day at the park.

There is about a 25% chance of seeing climbing lions at Manyara. Infact chances of seeing lions anywhere in Manyara has been under 50% on a day safari from our experience. Also, it must be noted that climbing lions are not unique to Manyara. They have been seen climbing trees in other parks like Tarangire and Serengeti as well. Many tourists have had the opportunity to spot lions sitting in trees in Central and Western Serengeti and from our experience, chances of seeing tree climbing lions are higher at Serengeti than at Manyara!

Flamingo numbers have been rapidly declining at Manyara for the past few years. Due to the flooding this park is experiencing since 2020, access roads have been cut off and it's hard to get close to the few remaining flamingos in the lake. From the past couple of years, we have been seeing very few flamingos from a distance at Lake Manyara or sometimes we don't spot flamingos at all. We have had more luck spotting a greater number of flamingos in Arusha national park (At Lake Momella) and Lake Eyasi than at Lake Manyara. Flamingoes keep migrating between the alkaline lakes in the rift valley and their migration pattern is hard to predict. If you are keen on seeing flamingos in Tanzania, discuss with your travel consultant and he can advise you on the best location for spotting them.

Lake Manyara is a good destination for birding throughout the year.

But the best time to go birdwatching at Manyara is the rainy season from December to June. Birds from Europe and North Africa migrate to Manyara and are concentrated in a higher number during this time. Birds such as pelicans and yellow-billed storks are some migratory birds that you can find here. But that’s not it. While many birds migrate to Lake Manyara, it dies have its own sets of residential birds as well. You can find them at the park throughout the year. Hamerkops and Silvery Cheeked Hornbills are some examples of the residential birds. Many birds have beautiful, colourful breeding plumages at this time too.

Lake Manyara is a good destination for birding throughout the year.

But the best time to go birdwatching at Manyara is the rainy season from December to June. Birds from Europe and North Africa migrate to Manyara and are concentrated in a higher number during this time. Birds such as pelicans and yellow-billed storks are some migratory birds that you can find here. But that’s not it. While many birds migrate to Lake Manyara, it dies have its own sets of residential birds as well. You can find them at the park throughout the year. Hamerkops and Silvery Cheeked Hornbills are some examples of the residential birds. Many birds have beautiful, colourful breeding plumages at this time too.

Given its small size and huge popularity, Lake Manyara does tend to get a bit crowded, especially in the northern parts of the park and during the peak season from July to October. Some ways to avoid crowds are - to enter park in the early hours before vehicles from Arusha reach the park or spend time in the southern part of the park which doesn’t receive as many visitors as the northern part.