Lake Manyara National Park

Stretching for 50 km along the base of the 600 meter high escarpment of the African Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park offers visitors a microcosm of the Tanzania safari experience.  Though it is not as big as the other renowned national parks of Tanzania, the park contains wide variety of animals per square kilometer.  The park has an area of 330 sq km of which two-thirds of it is the lake and the rest is mainly ground water forests and bush plains.

The other big animals found in the park include zebras, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeest, impala and waterbuck.  The primates include baboons and vervet monkey.  More than 380 species of birds have been identified in the park and this include flamingo, pelican, stilt, duck, heron, egret, spoonbill, ibis, hamerkop, hornbill and fish eagle.  Lucky travelers may catch sight of the park’s famous tree climbing lions, which make their home in mahogany and acacia trees during the rainy season.

The park has been a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since 1981.