Located on the way to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Lake Manyara National Park is worth a stop in its own right. Its groundwater forests, bush plains, Baobab-strewn cliffs and algae-streaked hot springs offer incredible ecological variety in a small area, rich in wildlife and vast numbers of birds.
The alkaline soda of Lake Manyara is home to an incredible array of birdlife that thrives on its brackish waters — pink flamingos stoop and graze by the thousands, colourful specks against the grey minerals of the lake shore, while yellow-billed storks swoop and corkscrew on thermal winds rising up from the escarpment. Even reluctant bird watchers will find something to marvel at.
Lake Manyara's famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to visit — the only lions of their kind in the world, they make the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the rainy season, and are a well-known but rather rare feature of the park. The park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world.
Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold, 600-metre-high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting Ernest Hemingway once described as "the loveliest I had seen in Africa". From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where baboon troops lounge along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper between the ancient mahogany trees, and dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows.
In contrast to the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward across the alkaline lake to the jagged blue volcanic peaks rising from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, alongside giraffe — some so dark in coloration that they appear black from a distance. Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania's birdlife — more than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in a single day.
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