Safari Activities to do in lake Manyara national park
Safari activities to do in lake Manyara national park : Lake Manyara national park is a relatively small national park located in the northern part of Tanzania, 126 kilometers west of Arusha town. Lake Manyara national park covers 330 square kilometers. Out of the park’s area, 220 square kilometers are covered by Lake Manyara. Lake Manyara is a shallow alkaline lake and it is a great habitat for flamingoes and pelicans. Lake Manyara national park lies in the Great Rift Valley in the steep, narrow escarpment, the park is dominated by mixed acacia woodlands, patches of evergreen forests and short savannah grasslands.
Lake Manyara national park is a home for a variety of wildlife with plenty of animals and birds. animals thriving in the park include elephants, wildebeests, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, hippopotamuses, grant’s gazelle, Thomson’s gazelle, impalas, black rhinoceros, warthogs, waterbucks, shy kirk’s dik-dik, klipspringer, baboons, lions, leopards, African wild cats, spotted hyenas, black-backed jackals, bat-eared foxes, servals, honey badgers, antelopes, African civets, genets, mongoose species, cheetah and African golden cats, and many more.
Lake Manyara national park is a bird haven hosting many bird species, with huge flocks of lesser and great flamingoes, great white pelicans, pink-backed pelicans, yellow-billed storks, Marabou stork, grey herons, palm nut vultures, Ayer’s hawk eagles, egrets, stilts erons, spoonbills, Sacred ibis
The park is home to the Saddle-billed stork, silvery-cheeked hornbill, southern ground hornbill, spur-winged goose, von der Decken’s hornbill, yellow-billed stork, and many more bird species.
Lake Manyara national park is a great tourist destination in Tanzania offering breathtaking and memorable experiences to tourists visiting the park for a safari. safari activities offered in the park include
Game drives
Lake Manyara national park is a great habitat for a wide range of animals, which thrive in the Savannah-dominated regions of the park because of the animals seen in a huge crowd. Lake Manyara national park offers amazing game drive experiences, which are facilitated by a couple of game drive trails running across the marshlands, woodlands, and grassy vegetation of the park, game drives in the park are offered in two sessions: day game drives and night game drives.
Day game drive
Day game drive in lake Manyara national park offer you an opportunity to spot many animals like giraffes, zebra, elephants, hippos, monkeys, wildebeest, waterbuck, warthogs, gazelles, impala, buffalo, wildebeest, waterbuck, warthog, hyena, baboon and many more through the widow of your vehicle as they graze in the park . Day game drives in the park are also offered in seasons of early morning and afternoon game drives.
Night game drive
Night game drive in Lake Manyara national park offers you an opportunity to spot nocturnal animals, most especially predators as they wait on their prey. With the use of a spotlight, you get to spot animals like lions, leopards, Porcupines, genets, civet cats, hippopotamuses and many more.
Birdwatching
Lake Manyara national park is a birding haven for bird watchers. Lake Manyara national park is a habitat for over 400 bird species, which are viewed while on bird-watching adventures in the park, the park hosts Eurasian migrant birds, acacia-associated birds, raptors and three endangered Tanzanian species. Bird species viewed in Lake Manyara national park include Abdim’s stork.
African fish eagle, African grey hornbill, African hawk eagle, African jacana, African spoonbill, Baglafecht weaver, comb duck, crowned eagle, great white pelican, greater flamingo, grey crowned crane, hammerkop, hottentot teal, lesser flamingo, little stint, pied avocet, pied kingfisher, pink-backed pelican, sacred ibis, saddle-billed stork, silvery-cheeked hornbill, southern ground hornbill, spur-winged goose, von der Decken’s hornbill, and yellow-billed stork. These birds are best spotted around Lake Manyara and these birds are best viewed in the period of November to April, when there are migratory bird species and in the period of June to October, which is apparently a dry season.
Boat rides/Canoeing
Among the national parks in the northern safari circuit and Tanzania at large, Lake Manyara is an exceptional destination, as it is one of the few destinations offering canoeing safaris. The park consists of the magnificent lake Manyara where canoeing and boat rides take place, boat rides on lake Manyara offer you an aquatic experience of the park filled with beautiful scenic sights of the park with its animals like giraffes and pink-colored flamingos, which crowd the shores of the lake.
Lake Manyara tree walkway
Tree walkway activity is a thrilling adventure offering you a tour and spectacular bird’s-eye views of the park from the top; this activity takes place on a walkway raised 370 meters in the sky. A walk on the tree walkway starts from a short boardwalk, raising in altitude as you walk to a series of suspension bridges. For security purposes of the tourists, the suspension bridges have secure netting on either side.
Visit Masai bombas
Lake Manyara national park offers cultural experiences through visits to the villages of the local Masai people. The local Masai people were the early inhabitants of the Lake Manyara national park area and after the gazetting of the area as a national park, the Masai people live on the boundaries of the park. Masai people are very friendly and hospitable people and upon your visit you will enjoy cultural dances and songs, which are a form of welcome. You will also encounter the unique Maasai bombas, which are built in a circular hut form and constructed using mud and straw; these circular huts are locally referred to as Bombas.
Where to stay in Lake Manyara national park
While on a safari In Lake Manyara national park there are many lodges and facilities offering accommodation to tourists; these facilities are offered as luxury, mid-range and budget accommodation so as to cater for tourists of different income levels. These facilities include lake Manyara tree lodge, lake Manyara wildlife lodge, lake Manyara Serena safari lodge, lake Manyara kilimamoja lodge, Manyara wildlife safari camp, Manyara wildlife safari camp, kiruruma Manyara lodge, Escarpment luxury lodge, Burudika Manyara lodge, Mugunga tented lodge, Twinga camp, Morona hill lodge, Hakuna Matata safari camp, Nsya lodge Escarpment and many more.
