Lake Manyara national park Map : Lake Manyara national park is a conveniently situated Tanzania national park found in a wider region with a number of unmissable safari gens, the park is found in the Tanzania northern safari circuit and located on the road to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti national park.
Lake Manyara national park is found in Tanzania’s Arusha and Manyara’s regions between Lake Manyara and The Great Rift Valley, the park is located about 126 kilometers southwest of Arusha. Lake Manyara national park can be reached by a car in a drive of an hour and a half, the park can also be accessed from Babati – the capital of Manyara Region.
Geography of Lake Manyara national Park
Lake Manyara national park covers an area of 325 square kilometers neighboring other protected areas,
- to the South there is the Marang Forest Reserve of 35,399 hactres situated on the escarpment above the park
- To the East is he Kwa Kuchinga Wildlife Migration corridor, this corridor allows wildlife to migrate between the nearby Tarangire national park to the Southeast
- To the West, there is Lake Manyara
- To the north, there is the Engaruka Basin
Within the Kwa Kuchinja corridor there are several villages and further from Lake Manyara and outside of the village land is the Manyara ranch of 45,000 acres. The Ranch is managed by the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust since 2001, there is also an important corridor allowing wildlife movement between Tarangire and Lake Manyara national parks.
Lake Manyara national park is part of the Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve which includes the areas within and outside of the national park, along with the Marang Forest Reserve situated on the adjacent uplands including the Lake Manyara Important Bird Area.
Topography of Lake Manyara national park
Lake Manyara national park’s topography is dominated by a shallow alkaline lake at an altitude of 960 meters formed in a depression in the Rift Valley System, when full Lake Manyara is at a maximum of 10ft deep and covers two thirds of the park. Lake Manyara has no outflow but is fed by underground springs and several permanent streams that drain the surrounding Ngorongoro Highlands.
The depth of Lake Manyara and the area it covers fluctuates significantly, in the extreme dry periods the surface area of the lake shrinks as the water evaporates and at times the lake dries up completely.
Besides the lake, the park encompases of extensive marshlands, saline flats that expand in the dry season as the surface area of the lake shrinks and a grassy floodplain. The area near the park’s gate is a tall forest which is sustained by groundwater, dominated by every green fig and mahogany trees.
In the west region of the park, there is the rocky escarpment of the rift vall rising steeply to 1,219 – 1,829 mters, large African baobab trees that are scattered on the slopes.
Lake Manyara national park Map
How to get to Lake Manyara national park
There are two major means of transport used to get to Lake Manyara national park that is By air and By road.
By Air
This is the best way to get to Lake Manyara national park and is done by flying into the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), from Arusha – the airport is located about 46 kilometers. There are domestic flights flying from Arusha Airport.
If you are flying from Dar es Salaam, you use the Julius Nyerere International Airport. Alternatively, you can take an international flight to the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam and then catch a connecting flight from either Julius Nyerere International Aiport or Arusha Airport.
There are charter flights to Lake Manyara Airport, these domestic flights can be arranged with a domestic carrier.
By Road
Lake Manyara national park is located southwest of Arusha town in a distance of 126 kilometers, the park can easily be reached by car. It can also be accessed from the Bahati – the capital of Manyara region, to reach to the main entrance gate of the park it is a drive of about one and a half hours to 2 hours.
