Lake Manyara National Park is a great destination found in the Arusha region, it is famous for its inhabitants of tree climbing lions, which are only rare to the destination covering an area space of approximately 330 square kilometers, the protected conservation area was named after the soda ash lake along the floor of the great rift valley known as the Lake Manyara established in the 1960s as a way of protecting the wildlife species that live within the park, the national park is one of the oldest parks in Tanzania second after the Serengeti national park, the park is managed under the Tanzania wildlife authority. The park is characterized by the scenic biodiverse environment, the word “Manyara” is a Masai word to mean a plant growing on a thick hedge, and the Lake itself is a shallow water body formed as a result of volcanicity.
The park is gifted with natural resources along the floor of the Great Rift Valley, these include Lake Manyara, which covers most of the park size, and is the major source of water in the national conservation area, the most populated animals on the lake are crocodiles, water birds pink flamingoes, hippos, and crocodiles, animals of the park include the African buffaloes, leopards, baboons, zebras, giraffes, leopards, impalas, klipspringer, gazelles, tree climbing lions to mention a few, and over 400 bird types, example species of birds include the crowned horn bills, sunbirds, herons, pelicans, greater and lesser flamingoes, shallows Turaco, grey crowned crested cranes to mention a few. with its size, the national park has got many birds some of which are endemics to the great rift valley region, hot springs are present within the park as a result of natural happenings like the movement of tectonic plates, these are in the western part of the Lake Manyara, the great escarpment region has got scenic views of the park,
Activities of the national park include famous game drives in the national park through the well-distributed tracks of the park, morning drives are the most effective, and the morning time is the best to see wildlife as it is cool with the weather which is most preferred by game, expect to meet early morning risers more so the cats of the park, afternoon and evening game drives are conducted which end in sundowners, it is one of the Tanzanian parks where doing night game drives in search of nocturnal wildlife. The national park is one of the best places to go bird several wildlife species are notable within the conservation area, guided nature walks, in the park led by an experienced park ranger, and the various trails continue to have the best of the park with exposure.
The national park can be accessed by road from Arusha or Moshi, the best time to visit the national park is during the dry season between December –February and June-September, it is during this time that the park is much easier to access, this said, however, the park is open for visitors all year round.