What Makes Lake Manyara Special

Lake Manyara is small but full of magic. Covering about 325 square kilometers — with nearly two-thirds of it taken up by the shimmering pink lake — it feels like stepping into a natural amphitheater, tucked between the Great Rift Valley escarpment and the water’s edge.

The lake itself glows pink thanks to millions of tiny microbes, attracting huge flocks of flamingos that turn the horizon into a living watercolor. But that’s not all this park is known for.

Lake Manyara is world-famous for its tree-climbing lions, a rare behavior you’ll only find in a few places on Earth. The park is also home to a species that exists nowhere else in the world — the Manyara monkey, also called the white-throated blue swamp monkey.

Established back in 1960 mainly to protect its growing elephant population, Lake Manyara now shelters almost 1,000 elephants within just 100 square kilometers — one of the highest concentrations anywhere in the world.

A Perfect Geographic Setting

The park sits dramatically between the Great Rift Valley and Lake Manyara itself — a geological wonder where Africa seems to crack open before your eyes. One moment you’re driving through dense forest; the next, you’re surrounded by open savannah with the escarpment rising steeply beside you. It’s a breathtaking contrast that makes this park feel truly unique.