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Place

Lake Manyara National Park

Nature

Mto wa Mbu, Manyara Region, Tanzania

A compact Rift Valley park where groundwater forest, floodplain, wetlands, hot springs, and an alkaline lake meet below the escarpment.

Why go

Why visit this place?

Lake Manyara compresses several northern Tanzania ecosystems into one landscape and adds water, forest, and prolific birdlife to the drier Tarangire and open Serengeti parts of the circuit.

When you arrive

What to expect

The lake edge changes with rainfall. Forest, acacia woodland, floodplain, and wetland habitats can all shape the wildlife seen.

Local knowledge

Local tip

Treat Mto wa Mbu and the Rift Valley escarpment as part of the geography, not simply as scenery between park gates.

Visiting

Getting there

The northern gate is close to Mto wa Mbu, about 125 kilometres from Arusha by the normal northern circuit road.

Best time: Water level, rain, and vegetation change the park considerably; use current TANAPA guidance for road and gate conditions.

Journey

How to reach Lake Manyara National Park

Begin with a practical starting point, then follow the route and local knowledge that lead to this Place.

Continue exploring

Continue from Lake Manyara National Park

This Place can also become the starting point for another discovery.

Where is it—and how do you reach it?

General_area location; public Journeys are shown on the map

No public photos have been added yet.