Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park is a Tanzanian national park located both in Arusha Region and Manyara
Region, Tanzania. The two administrative regions have no jurisdiction over the parks. The park is
governed by the Tanzania National Parks Authority. The majority of the land area of the park is a
narrow strip running between the Gregory Rift wall to the west and Lake Manyara, an alkaline or soda-
lake, to the east.

The park consists of 330 km 2 (130 sq mi) of arid land, forest, and a soda-lake which covers as much as
200 km 2 (77 sq mi) of land during the wet season but is nearly nonexistent during the dry season. Lake
Manyara National Park is known for the flamingos that inhabit the lake. During the wet season they
inhabit the edges of the lake in flocks of thousands but they are not so present during the dry season.
More than 400 species of birds inhabit the park and many remain throughout the year. Because of this
Lake Manyara National Park is a good spot for bird watching. Visitors to the park can expect to see
upwards of 100 different species of bird on any day.

Leopards, Masai lions, cheetahs, elephants, blue monkeys, dik-dik, gazelles, hippopotami, Masai giraffe,
impala, zebras and many more wild animals inhabit this park and many can be seen throughout the year.
There is a hippo pond at one end of the park where visitors can get out of their cars and observe from a
safe distance. The leopards and lions are both known to lounge in the trees while not hunting for prey.