Lake Manyara National Park, tucked beneath the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley in northern Tanzania, is one of East Africa Sauvage’s favorite compact gems on the Northern Safari Circuit. Covering approximately 330 square kilometers — up to two-thirds of which is the shallow, alkaline Lake Manyara itself — the park packs groundwater forest, acacia woodland, and open floodplain into a single scenic loop.

Manyara is world-famous for its tree-climbing lions, a rare and still not fully understood behavior shared with only a handful of prides elsewhere in Africa. Sightings of lions draped across the branches of acacia and fig trees are one of the park’s signature experiences, best spotted during the dry season.

The park is equally celebrated for its birdlife, with over 400 species recorded and thousands of pink flamingos gathering along the soda lake’s shoreline. It’s also home to the largest concentration of baboons found anywhere in the world, alongside large elephant herds, hippos, giraffes, buffalo, and troops of blue and vervet monkeys in its lush groundwater forest.

Beyond wildlife viewing, Manyara offers a 370-meter treetop canopy walkway through ancient mahogany forest, guided nature walks, canoeing when water levels allow, and views over the Rift Valley escarpment that Ernest Hemingway once called some of the loveliest in Africa. Often visited as a scenic stop en route to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, it’s a journey East Africa Sauvage is proud to guide you through.