Lake Manyara is a popular and accessible park that continues to delight visitors with its diversity and abundance of wildlife. The main habitats include the shallow soda lake itself which occupies about 70% of the park, the ground water forest, open grassland, acacia woodland and the rift wall. The most famous spectacle in the park are the tree-climbing lions, which are occasionally seen along branches of acacia trees. Other animals found in the park include buffalo, elephants, leopards, baboons, impala, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and hippos.

Popularly referred to as an ornithologist’s paradise, Lake Manyara National Park contains over 400 bird species found in the savannah and river habitats of East Africa. Common water birds to be seen here are pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese, hamerkops and the migratory flamingos, which arrive by the hundreds of thousands, creating one of Africa’s great natural sights over the soda lake. Lake Manyara is often less busy than it’s more famous rivals and many people will tell you this is their favourite park in Northern Tanzania!