Total Number of People = 1 to 50 people

Manyara National Park provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded here. From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside. Blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadow, and outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously in the canopy. 

Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favored haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the acacia while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forage in their shadow. Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot spring that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of the park. 

In the north, the entrance gate is 1.5 hours west of Arusha along a newly-surfaced road close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto Wa Mbu. Cultural tours, mountain bike tours, and forest walks are popular activities within the area. The dry season of July-October is the best time for large mammals, and the wet season of November-June is the best time for bird watching and canoeing.