
Arusha Transfers to Lake Manyara
Arusha transfers to Manyara – WhatsApp/Call: +255 759 694 668
Combine your Arusha transfer to Manyara with an option to add Serengeti National and Ngorongoro Park via Arusha and with game drive Inside Lake Manyara, or just your hotel drop off in Lake Manyara. You can also choose to fly in Manyara through Manyara airstrip, and we can take care of all your game drive Inside Lake Manyara and drop you back to Manyara aistrip after your Stay in Lake Manyara.
With a friendly driver and expert guide, enjoy tours to all tourism attractions in Tanzania (You can decide number of days), visiting the top National Parks in Tanzania:
e.g; Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Ruaha, Selous and all other National Park in Tanzania, we go everywhere from everyhere in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.
Our service includes;
- #1. Door to Door service from Arusha to Lake Manyara
- #2. Full day tour and transfer in a luxury, Minibus, and then 4×4 Safari Vehicle.
- #3. Services of an expert, friendly guide
- #4. No waiting charges.
- #5. COVID19 Safety Policies Applied.
What to Expect from our transfers?
COMFORT
You always get the car you booked. You travel only with passengers travelling with you. If you would like to find fellow passengers for your route, please check 'I want to share my trip' in your request.
SAFETY
Every vehicle of Get Trip Insight Tanzania fleet undergoes regular vehicle inspection. You can be confident with us: you are in a dependable car with an expert driver.
NO DELAYS
Your driver always arrives at specified time or checks your flight arrival time and always in contact with you. Pick-up at the airport with a nameplate is also included in service price.
All of our cars and mini-buses are comfortable and fully air-conditioned. When you travel with us you will be assured of a reliable and professional service and to arrive at your destination relaxed and on time!A
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Arusha Airport to Lake Manyara Route / Map
Car rental with driver - guide
Trip Insight Tanzania Tanzania works with a number of very experienced and truly lovable driver – guides. This option is great for the people who don’t fancy driving themselves, want a more relaxed experience, or want to learn more about the local culture and wildlife in Tanzania.
All the guides we work with are fluent in English and Swahili. Looking for a German, Spanish or French speaking driver-guide for your trip in Tanzania? Some of our driver-guides are also fluent in German, Spanish or French.
You can expect from your driver-guide that he will get you to your destination safely, he will also do game drives in the safari parks and he knows the best places to go for a lunch-break or stocking up supplies. He can also help you with fine-tuning your itineary along the way, and recommend nice campsites and good value for money lodges in Tanzania.

Frequently Asked Questions
Road-based safaris use closed 4WD’s, typically Toyota Landcruisers with a pop-top roof. For fly-in safaris, a combination of light aircraft and open-sided 4WD’s with a sun canopy, are used. Open-sided 4WD’s vehicles offer greater visibility and provide unobstructed photography opportunities in all directions.
On average, a Tanzania safari costs $ 200 USD per person per day. Midrange Price: is from $ 350 USD per person per day. Tanzania Luxury Safari Price is: from $ 600 USD per person per day.
Ngorongoro Crater: Haven for the Big 5
It’s renowned for delivering the easiest and most reliable Big 5 sightings in East Africa, and is provides what is arguably the best safari in Tanzania.
When on safari in an open vehicle there is nothing between you and Africa’s wilderness and wildlife. Sounds are more easily heard, smells are easier to pick up, and most importantly it is far easier to take photos and follow animals as they move around.
YES! A self-drive safari through Tanzania offers the chance to discover the stunning sceneries, many animals and cultures of Tanzania on your own. Enjoy Tanzania at your own pace with a 4WD jeep provided by Explore Tanzania! Explore Tanzania offers a reliable 4WD car, so you can start your own carefree adventure.
Manyara National Park is a sanctuary for hippo, giraffe, impala and zebra, and its lake a magnet for birdlife, including sizeable flocks of pink flamingos. Mahogany and sausage trees are alive with blue and vervet monkeys; elephants feed on fallen fruit, and bushbuck, baboons and leopard make their homes in the forest.
There are plenty of accommodation options in and around Lake Manyara to suit various budgets.
Options include campsites, bandas (basic brick cabins with thatched roofs), tented camps, and lodges.
There is only one lodge inside the national park itself — AndBeyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.
The Tree Lodge is renowned for its gorgeous tree-house-style suites, not to mention its night safaris and private canopy walkway that allows guests to explore the forest.
- For lodges outside the park, but close to it, you can consider:
- Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge
- The Plantation Lodge
- Escarpment Luxury Lodge
- Manyara Serena Safari Lodge
The best time to visit Lake Manyara National Park is during the summer months (November-April). You’ll be able to view migratory birds like flamingos and migrating animals like wildebeest and zebra grazing down by the lake. Keep in mind that summers in Lake Manyara are very rainy with some cool nights. So, prepare a Tanzania safari packing list, pack appropriate safari clothes and an umbrella, and time your visit carefully.
Roads can become flooded over the wet season so it’s best to visit between the rains or explore the lake on a canoe.
Below is a complete breakdown of the seasons in Lake Manyara so you can choose the best time to go:
Seasonal Climate
Temperatures around Lake Manyara are moderate all year round. Days are warm and mild but nights get chilly as cool air settles in the crater-depression of the lake. You should pack a warm jacket and long trousers, even for summer.
- 1. Driest months: July-September
- 2. Wettest months: November-April
- 3. Warmest months: January-March (30⁰C/86⁰F)
- 4. Coldest months: June to July (25⁰C/ 77⁰F)
Best Time to See Flamingos and other Birds
Summer in Tanzania, November-April, is the best time to see migratory birds, including thousands of pink flamingos and pelicans. Migrants start to arrive in November during the wet season and stay around until April. Generally, flamingos can be found at the shallow edges of the lake. How far away they are from the road depends on the water levels of each particular year.
Best Time to See Wildlife
Animal sightings are consistent year-round, but peak in the dry season (June to October) when the lake retracts and there is more grazing. At this time the northern end of the park becomes very crowded. The best time to see migrating wildebeests and zebras is between March and April.
It costs about $50 for the entrance fee to visit Lake Manyara National Park. This is because it’s a relatively small park measuring 325 km² (about 125 sq mi), so most tourists only spend one day at Lake Manyara then visit other bigger parks in the area like Serengeti and Tarangire on a combined safari tour.
On average, you can expect to spend anywhere from $200-$1000 per person per day on budget safaris to $2000-$5000 per person per day on luxury safaris in Tanzania. Safari costs take important expenses into account like transportation (flights, cars and boats), accommodation (camps or lodges), meals and activities (game drives, bird-watching, canoe safaris etc).
There are a few things you should know about Lake Manyara before planning a visit.
Lake Manyara (pronounced Man-yah-rah) is 30 miles (50km) long and 10 miles (16km) wide, making it the seventh-largest lake in Tanzania. This massive body of water is filled with salt deposits and it is often called a soda-ash lake.
The lake extends well beyond the park boundaries into the Lake Manyara Biosphere Reserve. The biosphere reserve is an area that not only protects animals and their habitats but also includes a population of some 250,000 people, coffee and banana plantations into one giant human-nature ecosystem.
The lake is fed by underground springs and streams running down from the surrounding Ngorongoro Highlands. Its waters are shallow enough that animals like buffalo and elephants can usually wade right across for most of the year.
In addition, Lake Manyara National Park forms part of an animal migration corridor that allows large herds of elephants, wildebeests, zebras and buffalos to pass through the area in the dry season to Tarangire National Park where there is a year-round freshwater source.
Lake Manyara National Park is 125 square miles (325km²) in size but two-thirds of this area is covered by water leaving only 36 square miles (93km²) of land for vehicle routes.
When compared to the Serengeti and Tarangire National Park, animal sightings are not as good and the park doesn’t have the typical African-safari feel as most habitats are forests and flood plains instead of wide-open savannahs and grasslands. This aside, Lake Manyara National Park offers a spectacular landscape with a huge diversity of habitats that is well worth taking at least a few hours to explore on-route to the bigger parks.
The best way to get to Lake Manyara (if you’re not a migratory bird) is by plane and car, or by plane and boat if the roads are badly flooded and inaccessible during the rainy months (November-April).
Generally, visitors fly into Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA). From there, Lake Manyara National Park is 78 miles (126km) or 1.5 hours drive from Arusha. The park is on route to the popular Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tarangire and Serengeti parks. Alternatively, you can get a 30-minute flight from Arusha to Lake Manyara Airstrip.
There are lots of places to stay in and nearby Lake Manyara, which are determined by your budget and things you want to do during your visit.
There is a variety of accommodation types available for every kind of tourist.
There are lots of activities you can do at Lake Manyara. Safaris in this region are a little different because of its proximity to the water, but that’s what makes a trip to this Tanzanian national treasure extra special.
Safari Drive
You can drive but it is advisable to go with an experienced driver as roads are sometimes muddy or flooded. The parkland area is small with most routes navigating through the forest. The entire road network of Lake Manyara National Park can be covered in 3-4 hours. Gates close to the public at sunset.
Night Drives
Lake Manyara is the only national park in Tanzania that allows night drives. This is, however, only available as a guided activity. Night drives are good for spotting short-eared galagos, porcupines, genets and other animals that are active after dark, including cats on the hunt.
Canoe Safaris
A unique way to see wildlife and birds is from the water. Guided canoe safaris are available when water levels are high enough. An experienced guide will take you out on stable boats for a scenic paddle around parts of the lake to look for birds and animals at the water’s edge.
Hot Springs
In the park, visitors can explore the natural hot-springs from a 300m raised boardwalk on the lake’s western banks. Water temperatures of the park’s hot springs can reach a near-boiling 60⁰C (140⁰F). If you are looking to bathe and snorkel in naturally warm waters, there are tours to the nearby Chemka hot springs close to the town of Moshi. Tours cost between $70-$150 per person depending on group size.
If safaris and the hot springs aren’t for you, not to worry. There are lots of other fun activities outside Lake Manyara that are sure to make your trip memorable.
Here are some of my favourites:
- Hiking
- Cycling Tours
- Village Tours
Hiking
Shorter nature walks through the forests as well as longer guided hikes along the ridge of the Great Rift Valley are popular in the Lake Manyara area. These tours are usually 1-1.5 hours with a knowledgeable local Masai guide who will also teach you a bit about indigenous plants and their traditional uses.
Cycling Tours
Ride a bike on fairly easy terrain through local villages and enjoy views of Lake Manyara as well as banana and coffee plantations. Cycle trips are 2-3 hours long and suitable for most ages and fitness levels.
Village Tours
The town of Mto Wa Mbu, located close to the entrance of Lake Manyara National Park, is a community bustling with residents from different tribes and cultures. Cultural tours of the village provide an opportunity to experience daily life in an African village. Interact with artists and farmers and taste some of the local specialty – banana beer.
Like so many of Tanzania’s amazing national parks and reserves, Lake Manyara is in the north of the country.
It sits between Ngorongoro Crater to the northwest and Tarangire National Park to the southeast.
This location makes it the perfect addition to a safari covering the famous Northern Circuit.
To the west, you can also find a spectacular Rift Valley escarpment, and the soda lake after which the park is named dominates the area, especially in the wet season.
All this adds up to awe-inspiring landscapes, 11 distinct ecosystems, and one of the highest densities of large mammals in the world.
Lake Manyara National Park’s total area is only 130 square miles, making it significantly smaller than its more prestigious neighbors.
But this just means there’s less wilderness for the animals to hide in. Many species aren’t shy about approaching the lake for a much-needed drink.
In fact, the name Manyara is derived from the Mbugwe word manyero, which means “a place where animals drink water.”
Best Lake Manyara Safari Tours
Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smaller national parks in Tanzania but still offers beautiful landscapes and is home to an interesting collection of wildlife. The lake itself is a soda lake / alkaline lake and reaches a maximum depth of 3.7 m. The vegetation changes from ground water forests to flood plains and finally to acacia wood plains.
For bird enthusiasts this park is truly rewarding as it is home to over 400 species of birds. Other inhabitants of the park include elephants, buffaloes, hippos, baboons, waterbucks, impalas, giraffes, zebras and wildebeests. The park has an abundant population of leopards but sightings are rare due to the thick vegetation. With a bit of luck visitors can catch a glimpse of the renowned “tree climbing” lions.