Great Rift Valley

Lake Manyara National Park

Tree-climbing lions beneath the Rift escarpment

About Lake Manyara

Lake Manyara is small but surprisingly varied, tucked between the soaring wall of the Great Rift Valley escarpment and a shallow alkaline lake. Within a few hours you can pass from a lush groundwater forest to open acacia woodland, grassy floodplains and the lake shore.

The forest at the park entrance is alive with blue monkeys and some of the largest baboon troops in Africa, while elephants, giraffe and buffalo move through the woodland. Hippos wallow in the pools, and when water levels are right, flocks of flamingos, pelicans and storks feed along the shallows, turning the shore pink and white.

The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, which are sometimes seen resting in the branches of acacia trees. Sightings are never guaranteed, but the setting always delivers: the escarpment rises 600 metres from the plains, and the views from the road to Ngorongoro are some of the best in Tanzania.

Lake Manyara is an easy half-day stop between Tarangire and the Ngorongoro highlands, and the nearby village of Mto wa Mbu offers a lively market and cultural tours that give a flavour of daily life in the Rift Valley.