6 days, 5 nights
Six Day Classic Northern Circuit
Four parks, each completely different from the last, at the pace they deserve.
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Northern circuit
Lake Manyara National Park
Groundwater forest, flamingos, tree climbing lions
RegionNorthern circuit
Best timeYear round
Getting thereBy road from Arusha, roughly two hours
Known forGroundwater forest, flamingos, tree climbing lions
Manyara is narrow and compressed, squeezed between the Rift Valley escarpment and the lake, and it changes completely in the space of a few kilometres. You enter through dense groundwater forest, fed by springs out of the escarpment and full of baboon troops and blue monkeys. That opens into acacia woodland where elephant and buffalo move. Then it ends at the shore of an alkaline lake where flamingos and pelicans gather in numbers.
The park is best known for the lions that rest in the acacia trees, which is unusual behaviour and not guaranteed on any given day. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
It is a half day park rather than a full day one, which is exactly how we use it.
Tell us what you want to see.
There is no fixed menu here. Tell us your dates, how long you have, and what matters most to you, and we will put together a safari built around that. You will have a reply within a day, written by the person who will plan your trip.