Lake Manyara National Park is Tanzania’s smallest national park at 330 square kilometres but consistently ranks among its most rewarding for the self-drive visitor. Compressed between the escarpment wall of the Rift Valley and the alkaline lake that covers 200 square kilometres of the park’s area, Manyara is dense, layered, and wildlife-rich in a way that much larger parks cannot match per square kilometre. The park is famous for its tree-climbing lions — a behaviour documented in Manyara’s fig forest since the 1950s and observed in no other Tanzania park — and for the flamingo that populate the lake margin when water chemistry is appropriate. The park is also directly on the route from Arusha to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, making it a natural stop on the northern circuit approach.
Arusha to Lake Manyara: 125km, 2 Hours
From Arusha, drive the A104 highway southwest for 80km to the Makuyuni junction. At Makuyuni, turn south toward Mto wa Mbu (15km). The Manyara National Park gate is 5km south of Mto wa Mbu town. The road from Makuyuni to the gate is good tarmac. Fill fuel in Mto wa Mbu town — small petrol stations on the main road. The gate entry road leads to the main park entrance where TANAPA fees are collected. Pay at the gate or pre-purchase via the Tanzania National Parks e-ticketing system.
Park Entry Fees (2027/2028)
- Non-resident adult: USD 57 per person per 24 hours
- Non-resident child (5-15 years): USD 28.50 per person per 24 hours
- Vehicle entry: USD 40 per vehicle per day
- TANAPA public campsite: approximately USD 30 to 40 per person per night
The Park Road Network
Manyara’s road network consists of one main track that enters through the fig forest at the gate (where the tree-climbing lions are most reliably found), runs south along the lake shore, and loops back north through the open woodland. The park is small enough to drive the complete circuit in 3 to 4 hours at a comfortable game-viewing pace. The main circuit:
- Fig forest zone (entry to 4km from gate): The tall riverine fig forest immediately after the gate is the primary tree-climbing lion habitat. Drive slowly through this section, scanning the branches of large fig trees — particularly those with horizontal spreading branches at 4 to 8 metres — for resting lions. Early morning (6am to 8am) is the most productive time. The fig forest also holds olive baboon, vervet monkey, and extraordinary birdlife including silvery-cheeked hornbill
- Groundwater forest (4km to 8km): The forest transitions to dense groundwater forest fed by springs from the escarpment wall. Hippo are found in the forest pools here — an unusual habitat for hippo, which more typically occupy open river and lake environments. These forest hippo graze in the forest at night and rest in the pools during the day
- Lake shore circuit (8km to 20km): The road emerges from the forest onto the open lake margin. Flamingo are present when the lake’s alkalinity level supports their preferred spirulina food source — when conditions are right, tens of thousands of flamingo form a pink fringe along the lake edge. When the lake chemistry shifts, flamingo may be absent entirely. Also along the lake margin: elephant, zebra, wildebeest, and the largest impala herds in the park
Tree-Climbing Lions: The Reality
Manyara’s tree-climbing lion behaviour is real but not guaranteed on any given visit. The behaviour — lions resting in the branches of fig and sausage trees — is documented in the Manyara pride specifically, but the lions do not climb on a schedule and a game drive of Manyara’s fig forest may find no lions or may find an entire pride draped across the branches of a single large fig. The behaviour is most common in the wet season (March-May) when the ground is muddy and the branches offer cleaner, drier resting places, and when tsetse flies are active at ground level (the branches are above tsetse height). In the dry season, the lion behaviour is less predictable — the pride may be resting on the ground in shaded areas rather than climbing. Manyara’s tree-climbing is worth specifically looking for but should not be the sole reason to visit — the park’s overall wildlife density justifies the entry fee regardless of tree-climbing lion sightings.
Combining Manyara with the Northern Circuit
Manyara is most efficiently visited as a half-day stop on the drive from Arusha toward Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. Depart Arusha at 6am, arrive Manyara gate at 8am, drive the complete circuit by midday (4 hours), exit the park and drive 40km to Karatu for fuel and lunch, then continue to Lodoare Gate (NCA entry) in the afternoon. This sequence puts you on the Ngorongoro rim before sunset — the ideal first Ngorongoro experience. Alternatively, overnight at Manyara (in-park TANAPA campsite or lake-view lodge outside the park) and drive to Karatu the next morning fully rested before the NCA approach.
