Savannah-woodland, rainforest and lake combine to put on a show of elephants, tree-climbing lions, primates and birds

Lake Manyara makes a perfect start to a safari, just a 1.5-hour drive west of Arusha in northern Tanzania, on the way to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. It gives you a chance to see plains game, primates and up to 400 bird species in a 50-kilometre strip of rainforest and savannah-woodland between the Great Rift Valley’s Gregory Rift and the soda lake of Lake Manyara.

The park is well protected between these two natural boundaries. Lake Manyara was originally proclaimed to protect elephants, and the small Manyara elephants with their short tusks still roam the rain and fever tree forests in abundance.