Why this day trip
Lake Manyara is small enough to see in half a day — and that is exactly what this trip gives you. Long enough to do the park justice, short enough that you can be back in Arusha by dinner.
The park's strength is its variety per hectare: rainforest, lake edge, escarpment slopes, all in 330 square kilometres. The strength is also its weakness — the wildlife density is lower than Tarangire or the Ngorongoro Crater. If you have one safari day, take Tarangire. If you have two and want range, take both.
The day
6:00 a.m. pickup. Drive west three hours to the Manyara gate. Enter at 9 a.m. Game drive through the groundwater forest, along the lake-edge floodplain, to the hippo pool at the southern shore. Picnic lunch at the lake edge. Optional canopy walk after lunch (USD 20, ninety minutes). Drive back to Arusha by sunset.
What you'll see
Olive baboon troops (large and habituated at the gate area). Elephant inside the forest. Giraffe, zebra, impala on the floodplain. Hippopotamus at the hippo pool. Pelican, yellow-billed stork, fish eagle. Flamingo in the right season (their movement is unpredictable). Tree-climbing lion if you are very lucky.
- Half-day game drive in Lake Manyara
- Groundwater forest and baboon troops
- Lake edge with hippo and flamingo (in season)
- Possible canopy walkway add-on
