Famous for its tree climbing lions and herds of elephant, as well as sighting of hippo, giraffe and the pink feathered flamingo, the park has diverse ecological zones ranging from the rocky Great Rift Valley wall, a ground water forest, woodland, open grassland and swamp. Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. The compact game–viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzania safari experience.

From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, and hornbills honk cacophonously in the high canopy.