Lake Manyara National Park is a hub of wildlife, it is among the best wildlife viewing points in northern Tanzania, it is the second oldest conservation area of the country after the Serengeti National Park, it was gazette in 1960 as a way of protecting wildlife species living within the biodiverse environment. The park gets its name from Lake Manyara, which was named by the Masaai residents, its name is derived from that of the small trees used to make fences in the local homes of the Masai called “Emanyara”. The park’s size is incredibly small an area space of approximately 330square kilometers, which qualifies it as one of the smallest national parks in Tanzania.
Despite the small size of the Lake Manyara National Park compared to the northern conservation areas of Serengeti National Park, Tarangire National Park, and the Ngorongoro Crater, it offers some of the best wildlife experiences of the African wilderness due to its diverse environment, wildlife in Lake Manyara National park include African elephants, these are high in population number, tree climbing lions are the signature mammal species of the park these are seen in the tree figs, monkeys, olive baboons, giraffes, zebras, hyenas, warthogs, klipspringer, impalas, wildebeests, leopards, hippos, white and black Rhinos, bushbucks, waterbucks, dik-diks to mention a few, over 450 species of birds example birds present include crowned hornbills, African fish eagle, African grey hornbills, comb duck, crowned eagles, lesser flamingoes, pelicans, southern ground hornbills, yellow-billed stock among others. There are more reptile and amphibian species present in the national park like the Kenyan rock agama, flap-necked chameleons, African striped skink, and Nile monitors.
Wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park is experienced during tourism activities like game drives, which are done through the well-distributed trails of the national park the drives are done in sessions, in the morning, afternoon, and evening times in search of mammal species and night game drives are allowed to search for nocturnal species including cats, pottos and bush babies, guided nature walks which are conducted by an experienced guide who is knowledgeable about the park and its composition, birding and visits to the hot springs, any of these activities gets you closer to wildlife of the national park.
Wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park is best seen during the dry season between the months of December –February and June –September when the trails of the ecosystem are much drier, the park grasslands thin out which makes it simpler to view animals at any time of the dry season. It is possible to see wildlife during the wet season however it takes a lot of patience, the most to see during the wet season are birds when the national park receives migratory species as well.
In conclusion, wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park can be seen any time of the year, the park is situated a few kilometers from Arusha approximately 126 kilometers by road or a flight to the nearest airstrip the Lake Manyara airstrip, it is from here that guests will be transferred to their accommodation facilities.