When should you visit Lake Manyara National Park?
When should you visit Lake Manyara National Park?
Lake Manyara National Park is a small, scenic park in northern Tanzania. It spans about 325 square kilometers (125 square miles) with diverse habitats, including vast plains, dense woodlands, and an alkaline lake. The park is one of the smallest in the country, primarily due to the soda lake (Manyara) occupying about 75% of the total area. The size should not fool you: there are plenty of adventurous activities to do here.
As a nature lover, we bet you want to know when the right time to visit Lake Manyara is. This is important to avoid missing out on the most fascinating moments. And that’s why we are here. In this blog, you’ll know when the best time to visit is based on what you want to experience.
The best time for game viewing.
Like many other parks in Tanzania, the dry season (June to October) is always the best time to visit Lake Manyara National Park. This is because the weather is dry and warm, there’s little vegetation, and a few water sources. As a result, game viewing is much easier. You can navigate rough trails easily to find animals in water holes.
If you’re heading to Lake Manyara for animal viewing, plan your trip accordingly. Large elephants, buffalo, wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles are a common sighting in the wooded area and the savannah plains. The soda lake also shrinks and exposes wildlife like hippos and water birds.
You might be thinking of finding more crowds during this season. Lake Manyara never gets traffic. While other visitors are sharing a wildlife sighting in the Serengeti, you can choose Lake Manyara for a more secluded safari.
The best time for birdwatching.
Lake Manyara is also a thriving birding destination in Tanzania. More than 400 species are enough to make you set off for a birding adventure in this park. The lesser flamingos on the shores of Lake Manyara are a fascinating sight to behold. You can detect their presence from a distance as they stain the lake shores pink.
The best time to see flamingos in Lake Manyara is from November to May. This time, the lake is full of water up to its shallow shores, allowing them to obtain the food. There’s an interesting fact regarding the preference of flamingos for alkaline waters.
The flamingos prefer alkaline lakes because of the high concentration of algae (spirulina or archaebacteria), their favorite food.
Some lakes are extremely alkaline, hence being hostile to a variety of organisms, but not flamingos. A good example is Lake Natron.
As Lake Manyara shrinks (in the dry season), the flamingos migrate in a significant migration called “flamingo migration” to Lake Natron or Lake Nakuru in Kenya.
November-May is also good for watching other birds. As we mentioned, the park’s 400 species of birds live in the woodlands, forests, and on the shores. You can spot birds like the pink-backed pelican, black heron, silvery-cheeked hornbill, marabou storks, Egyptian goose, Hildebrandt’s spurfowl, Kori bustard, Schalow’s turaco, and African green pigeon, to name just a few. So, make sure you pack a good camera and binoculars and bring an open mind.
The best time for canoeing and a boat ride.
Paddling a canoe or sailing by boat are among the adventurous activities done on Lake Manyara. However, the seasonality of Lake Manyara makes these activities impossible in certain seasons. Therefore, if you’re going for a canoe or boat ride, we recommend going there during the wet season, from November to May.
The lake may shrink in the middle of the dry season – usually in July, August, or September – making canoeing and cruising impossible. However, the shrinking rate varies from year to year. So, it may sometimes be possible to canoe or cruise in the dry season. The good news is that we’ll be in touch to let you know.
How to get to Lake Manyara
Well, the best way is to fly into Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Arusha Airport (ARK). These airports have many international flight connections from everywhere in the world. Best alternatives include Addis Ababa International Airport in Ethiopia and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.
There are two ways to get to Lake Manyara National Park from Arusha:
By air
You can fly on charter from Arusha Airport to Lake Manyara Airstrip within the park. The airstrip receives more charter flights and a few scheduled flights offered by certain airlines.
By road
Driving is the most common way to reach Lake Manyara. It takes two hours of driving to arrive there. The journey goes through local villages, coffee plantations, and more. The main road starting from Arusha is tarmac, but a short route heading to the park’s gate is gravel.
The bottom line
Treat yourself with a special safari to Lake Manyara. It’s spectacularly beautiful and hidden, yet jam-packed with wildlife. And you’ll have a lot of adventures to embark on – from day and night game drives to an amazing canopy walk on its unique Treetop Walkway, not to mention exciting birding safaris and meaningful cultural interactions.
Are you ready for a safari in Lake Manyara? We are here to help you discover the beauty of this fascinating park. Our guides, who are experts in the field, are ready to take you on an adventurous trip in Lake Manyara National Park. Let’s start planning something unforgettable now. If you have more questions, please call us.
