Lake Manyara National Park

Ernest Hemingway called it the loveliest lake in Africa. He was not wrong, though the lake itself is only part of what makes Manyara extraordinary. The park sits in a narrow strip between the Rift Valley escarpment and the alkaline lake shore, creating an unlikely concentration of habitats: groundwater forest, acacia woodland, open floodplain, and the vast shallows where flamingos gather in their hundreds of thousands. The forest hides tree-climbing lions — a behaviour so unusual that scientists still debate why they do it — along with baboon troops, blue monkeys, and the largest concentration of hippos in northern Tanzania. At just 330 square kilometres, Manyara is small enough to do justice to in a single long day, which makes it the perfect opener or closer to a longer northern circuit safari.