Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara was my first safari location, and I think it was great as a "beginner's safari". The wildlife is not amazing, but it was enough to get a nice taste of the experience. The birds were pretty spectacular, and it was definitely a good experience overall, but after traveling to Nairobi Natl Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Masai Mara, the experience at Lake Manyara paled a bit in comparison.

This park is called "Home of tree climbing lions" - never saw any lion in 3 hours trip inside this park.
I've been in mount Kilimanjaro national park. This park is not in the list here.

Perfect introduction to East African Safari

Lake Manyara was my first ever visit to a safari trip in Africa. I did not know what to expect, but within moments of entering, I was welcomed by 100s of baboons, birds and a pair of elephants!

Over the course of the next 10 hours, I saw many changing landscapes: forestry, open plains, grasslands, swamplands and of course the lake itself. Each supported its own eco system and food chain and all were teeming with life.

There were so many types of birds, culminating with 100s of beautiful pink flamingoes. Likewise, the grazers were very well represented to plenty of zebra, gazelles and antelopes. And of course there were many giraffe and a few elephants and hippo's too! I was certainly not disappointed with the amount of animals that were always close by.

However, what I enjoyed most about Lake Manyara was the lake itself. It was an amazing scenic backdrop for life in the bush. All in all, Lake Manyara was the perfect introduction to Africa's wildlife and a perfect place to quickly learn and get ones bearings before moving onto the more famous Ngorogoro and Serengeti parks. Im certainly glad I did it first.

Lake Manyara is excellent for bird watching: kingfishers, African hornbills, ibises, helmeted guineafowls, grey crowned cranes, flamingoes, herons, etc. We've also seen lots of other interesting animals: chimps in a tamarind tree, blue monkeys, baboons, elephants, antelopes, Nile monitors, etc. Beware of tsetse flies: no panic is needed, but don't wear black of dark blue clothes, no short sleeves or trousers and use a strong insect repellent! In the rainy season, only a part of this park is accessible because of the high water level, so go to Lake Manyara during the dry season!

I only spent a day there but recall a jackal, baboons on a termite mound, an elephant and hippos. The weaver colony at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge made for good photos.

Dry season is not the best time for this park

Probably because of the time of year, not many birds were evident. It was only a superficial stop between Tarangire and the Crater.

The park was quite nice, but after beeing in the Serengeti and Tarangire NP it had no "wow effect" on us. We still enjoyed a visit, but be aware that you won't necessarily see a lion even if the park claims to be the place where you can find lions on trees (which we saw before at Serengeti).

We only had a morning here so can't elaborate too much but the bird life was outstanding here

Lake Manyara has a more jungle vibe to it, being more treey. To see the tree lions is the prime reason to visit it.