Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park offers varied ecosystems, incredible bird life, and breathtaking views.

Lake Manyara National Park, which is located on the way to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, is worth a stop in and of itself. Its groundwater forests, bush plains, baobab-strewn cliffs, and algae-streaked hot springs provide incredible ecological variety in a small area, as well as a plethora of wildlife and birds.

Lake Manyara’s alkaline soda is home to a diverse range of bird life that thrives in its brackish waters. Thousands of pink flamingos stoop and graze on colorful specks against the lake’s grey minerals. Herons flap their wings against the sun-drenched sky, and yellow-billed storks swoop and corkscrew on thermal winds rising up from the escarpment. Even the most averse bird watchers will find something to admire in the national park.

Another reason to visit this park is to see the famous tree-climbing lions of Lake Manyara. During the rainy season, they live in the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias, which are the only species of their kind on the planet. They’re a well-known but uncommon feature of the park’s northern reaches. In addition to the lions, the national park is home to the world’s largest concentration of baboons, which makes for fascinating game viewing of large groups of the primates.

Lake Manyara is a scenic gem that stretches for 50 kilometers along the base of the rusty-gold 600-meter-high Rift Valley escarpment, with a setting described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa.”

Manyara’s small game-viewing circuit is a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.

The road winds through a lush jungle-like groundwater forest from the entrance gate, with hundreds of baboon troops lounging along the roadside; blue monkeys scampering nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees; dainty bushbuck treading warily through the shadows; and outsized forest hornbills honking cacophonously in the high canopy.

The grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes, contrast with the intimacy of the forest. Large herds of buffalo, wildebeest, and zebra, as well as giraffes—some of which are so dark in color that they appear black from a distance—congregate on these grassy plains.

Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively tusked elephants frequent a narrow belt of acacia woodland inland of the floodplain. The diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages in the shade of the acacias, while squadrons of banded mongoose dart between them. In the far south of the park, klipspringers are frequently seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of scorching hot springs that steam and bubble adjacent to the lakeshore.

Manyara is an excellent place to start learning about Tanzania’s avifauna. There are over 400 species recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa could reasonably expect to see 100 of them in a single day. Thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their annual migration, as well as other large water birds like pelicans, cormorants, and storks, are among the highlights.