Nihapa Tours - Lake Manyara National Park — Local services in Arusha

Off to Lake Manyara national park. It encompasses a large lake surrounded by forest and marsh. . During our 4 hour visit we see 4 troops of baboons. Each one larger than the last. The first had about 30 members, and the last had over 100. Lots of babies. Some in their mothers' arms and some running about. Many are grooming (picking out flees) each other in every conceivable location. We see 4 giraffes on the dirt road. They leave the road, easily pass through the the thick forest and disappear. We see several horn bill birds; sort of a toucan. We watch a group of 10 vultures fight over the remains of a carcass stuck in the muddy marsh. Driving back i see an elephant close to road. Then 3 more appear. We stop and one passes by us within 5 feet. It's a group of young males. They enter the trees and are gone. The park roads are mostly gravel and dirt. Much mud. Steams flow with muddy water. We cross the streams carefully. At one point por driver walks across in knee deep water to confirm the surface. No issues. The heavy rains have blocked the roads in several places. One bridge has several tree trunks across it, so...

This NP offers a bit of a jungle vibe, with dense vegetation and water streams. The wildlife is scarce and hard to spot. Recommended if you like monkeys or you want to have a better chance of seeing a kingfisher. Apart from that, you might end up driving for hours only seeing trees and bushes and having to turn around cause of the many flooded or closed roads. Not worth the 50$ pp entrance fee. If you're seeking real wildlife, stick to Tarangire and Seronera and you'll...

Compared with all other parks, it was one of less interesting places. The hardest part was to see the animals, because Manyara park is like a jungle and every spot of the park has gigantic trees and heavy bushes. However there are millions of monkeys and baboons and you could definitely explore them closely compared with other parks. In any case we liked our experience, because of the nature and how the Manyara park is different with other parks...