Nestling at the base of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the most beautiful places in Africa. As you enter the gate , the park is dramatically marked off by lush green vegetation consisting of tall trees of the ground water forest which provide home to troops of baboons and blue monkeys.
Further down the forest opens up into woodlands, grassland, swamps and beyond , the soda lake itself where over 400 species of birds including the lovely lesser and greater flamingoes, pelican, stork and vulture can be viewed.
At the southern end of the park are the hot sulphur springs called magmata.
The most famous spectacle in the park are the tree-climbing lions which spend most of the day spread out along branches of acacia trees 6 to 7 metres above the ground. The park is also noted for its numerous buffalo, elephant, giraffe, impala, hippo and a great variety of smaller animals which can be observed in the course of a single day. The park is only 130km away from Arusha.
