Lake Manyara is on of Tanzania's most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the lake) at the foot of the Great Rift Valley's western escarpment. The parks varied shoreline habitats contain a wide variety of habitats, which include lush groundwater forests, a swampy fan delta, acacia woodlands and a small grassy plain.

This varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa's largest concentrations of elephants, and the algae in the lake attract large flocks of flamingos. The park therefore supports a great variety of wildlife. Manyara's main attraction is its rich bird life, its tree-climbing lions and its hippos, which can be observed here at very close range. In his book "The Green Hills of Africa" Hemingway describes his trophy hunting expeditions into the lake Manyara area, which used to be prime hunting country many years ago. The park is very picturesque but the dense groundwater forest areas can made spotting game more difficult - but undoubtedly exciting - it is therefore a good idea to visited the park at the start of your trip, before you become to jaded with wildlife. A day trip is sufficient to see most of the parks sights.

The agricultural and fresh produce market town of Mto WA Mbu is situated next to the entrance of Lake Manyara National Park. The enormous amount of groundwater pouring through the rock of the escarpment in this area has created the ideal habitat for fresh produce -And the local farmers grow everything ranging from bananas to maize. The town is a souvenir hunters paradise, harbouring thousands souvenir salesmen - ready to pounce at the slightest invitation. Mto WA Mbu, which literally means "mosquito creek", is very malarial so make sure you put on lots of insect repellent.

THE LAKE
Wherever you drive in Lake Manyara National Park - lake Manyara is never far away. The water is slightly alkaline, even though fresh water rivers, streams, and escarpment springs mainly feed the lake. A diverse collection of water birds like pelicans, storks cormorants, geese and ducks all congregate in abundance around the shores of lake Manyara, and at certain times of the year the lake hosts thousands of flamingos.