African Safari – Lake Manyara National Park – Background information

African Safari – Lake Manyara National Park – Background information

The entrance to the park is quite nice with an interpretive centre, a nice nature trail and modern washrooms.

Our directions were simple for the day “Show us the tree-climbing lions”. We saw monkeys, owls and baboons in trees but alas no lions in trees during our visit to the Lake Manyara area.

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The following is extracted from the itinerary info provided by GAP Adventures.

Approximately 130 km from Arusha, Lake Manyara National Park is home to the giant fig trees, acacia woodlands, mahogany trees and grassy flood plains. The contrasts of this area are simply breathtaking, with the open plains, huge escarpment, central soda lake, dense woodlands, and distance volcanic peaks coming together in an area best described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. The name Manyara is derived from the Masai word “Emanyara”, which is a Euphorbia species of plant that is found around a family homestead in the area. The lake itself is a shallow, alkaline lake stretching 50km at the base of the sheer 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment. This forms part of the national park that covers an area on roughly 330km sq. Animals such as blue monkeys, hippo, impala, elephant, wildebeest, buffalo, warthog, and giraffe all roam the park’s territory. The park is also home to legendary tree-climbing lions, and also has small populations of leopard. Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s bird life, with over 400 species having been recorded within the parks boundaries. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large water birds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.