Compact and wonderfully varied, Lake Manyara delivers a remarkable amount of safari in a single day. In a few unhurried hours you pass from shady groundwater forest — alive with baboons and blue monkeys — to open floodplain, hippo pools and a soda lake edged pink with flamingos.
And always there's the chance of Manyara's famous speciality: lions lounging in the branches of the acacias.
Leave Arusha after breakfast for the scenic two-hour drive across the Rift Valley floor to Manyara's lush forest gate, where the game drive begins immediately among baboon troops.
Explore forest, floodplain and lakeshore with a picnic lunch inside the park — hippos wallowing, elephants in the acacia woodland, and eyes up for lions draped in the trees.
Exit the park in the late afternoon and arrive back in Arusha by early evening — or extend with a Tarangire day for a perfect two-day combination.
Rates vary with group size, season and accommodation level. Tell us your dates and party size and we'll send a detailed, no-obligation quote within 24 hours — usually much faster on WhatsApp.
Request a QuoteLake Manyara sits at the foot of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, an easy two-hour drive west of Arusha.
Book your Manyara day safari — or pair it with Tarangire for a two-day escape.
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