Reviews: Lake Manyara Safari

"Beautiful park but I expected to see many beautiful birds and was informed they had all left due to the flooding." Read more about this whole safari

"The flamingos are all gone now; the tree-climbing lions can be seen elsewhere, and we saw nothing new. Better to have another day in Tarangire." Read more about this whole safari

"Lake Manyara was a "taste test" of what was to come through our time in Tanzania. We saw lots of baboons and not much else.

Our friends saw lions and leopard - I think we were unlucky.

We were also very tired as it was our first day and we had had a long journey to get to Tanzania." Read more about this whole safari

"The Rift Valley was quite an experience as we drove down to the lake. The highlight was discovering a small herd of elephants (patiently discovered by Esto) with two babies one 3 weeks old and one 10 to 12 weeks with mothers and aunts gently feeding. They were totally unperturbed by our presence and within touching space they were that close. An amazing half hour of watching these majestic creatures and the interaction and antics of the young. Also saw a pride of lions lazily watching a secretary bird by a water hole in contemplation. The lead lioness had been tagged for easy identification and awareness." Read more about this whole safari

"Disappointed with small number of flamingo on the lake, not as much wildlife and bird life seen as we had expected so least enjoyed area of all our trip." Read more about this whole safari

"Lake Manyara is an interesting small park with a variety of habitats, including the lake shoreline, dense forest-like areas, plains, and scrubland, with the Rift Valley escarpment in the background. We did not see many other safari vehicles while we were there, which gave us a sense of being in a wilderness. This also meant that we could spend a lot of time watching the wildlife interact with each other without being disturbed.

While we saw a more limited range of wildlife here than during our safaris in the Maasai Mara, Ngorongoro Crater, or the Serengeti, we greatly enjoyed observing the species that we saw. We spent a lot of time closely observing three species. We followed a large family of elephants for some time. The family included large adults, "teenagers", and very young elephants. At times, the elephants were so close to our vehicle (they were very close to the road) that I could have touched them if I had reached my arm through the vehicle's window. It was fun to follow them watching them eat leaves on trees and interacting with each other.

We also spent a lot of time following a large troop of baboons, something that we probably would not have done in other parks. The troop included a wide age-range, including babies on their mother's backs, "teens", and male and female adults. They were very entertaining to watch - the teens climbing trees and swinging on branches, the females grooming the males, the babies cavorting.

We also watched a variety of monkeys - vervet and blue - playing in trees and drinking from a stream. They were fun to watch.

We also saw lions, zebras, giraffes, and a variety of antelope species, including impala, bush buck, and dik-dik.

We enjoyed the day very much - it was more "relaxed" game viewing than I expected, as we took lots of time to just observe wildlife "doing their thing"." Read more about this whole safari

"Very sadly this Park has been severely affected by nearby road building and no longer matches the description in guide books or your information. The lake is now badly silted up, so no flamingos and has led to flooding which has damaged the shoreline too. The park is over run by baboons so all the bird life has disappeared.

Martin was keen to tell us before we headed to the Park that it would not be as we expected and wildlife viewings would be difficult. he also asked us to pass these comments on to persuade tour operators to amend their comments about the Park.

We had a good couple of hours in the Park and saw more than we had expected due to Martin's comments, he was surprised too but a couple of hours is all you need. it is not a full day experience." Read more about this whole safari

"We were very impressed with our safari at Lake Manyara! We had low expectations going in and didn't really expect to see much other than elephants and baboons.

Wow, were we surprised!! We didn't just see elephants, we saw them up close! I mean to the point where you could reach out and touch them. It was incredible. We also saw lion in a tree practically overhanging the road and hippo in the water.

Further down the path we saw another lion on a kill. It was really interesting to see how the landscapes changed as you drove. In one area it would be barren and dry and then a short few blocks later there would be dense vegetation and foliage as a result of underground springs! It was beautiful!

That being said, if you can only choose between Tarangire and Lake Manyara - we would recommend Tarangire to see more wildlife. Especially near the water sources at Tarangire. Manyara was very busy and only has one road in and out of the park which can cause traffic jams when there is an animal sighting near the road.

There were times at Tarangire where we were the only vehicle on a sighting and it would be hours in between seeing other vehicles which gave us a more private feel to our safari." Read more about this whole safari

"Sadly Lake Manyara has been very badly affected by the changing climate, which has resulted in flooding and many dead trees.

It has also been damaged by the actions of the local farmers, leading to agricultural run off silting the lake and polluting nitrates.

It also is much more commercial than Oliver’s Camp, which is where we came from, and was a disappointment.

I wouldn’t recommend it." Read more about this whole safari

"An elephant come pretty much next to our car, it was really exciting.

Also, interesting birds and lots of monkeys." Read more about this whole safari