Lake Manyara National Park, Arusha, Tanzania Assessment Criteria Satisfaction  in % Comments Pool 80   Tent/ Room 70 a bit of love and care would bring the room into a nice shape Restaurant atmosphere 60   one sits in a open flat with others on concrete and it's again arranged with poor attention Food 50   quality of dinner and breakfast is poor. same counts for variation Management & Staff 60 they smile a lot but difficult to talk to them. And not at all trained Camp/ Lodge 70   give it love and attention. Then the boring place might turn back into an retreat Lake Manyara NP is the smallest national park in Tanzania. Having said this it's amazingly rich in regard to variety of landscape. It starts with a lush green area in the hills and is while the land is sloping downwards changing slowly into a dry and finally salty area. In other words: the visitor can experience a great variety within just one day or even a couple of hours. It is as well known for its tree climbing lions. Actually those you can find as well in the Mara and Serengeti - but they advertise it here very much. National Park means here: the vehicle is not allowed to leave the road; you have more vehicles around one spot and several picnic areas which are crowded over lunch time. The animals seem to be very used to visitors as they stay very calm when vehicles are approaching them. Same holds true for Zebras and others which are gazing on a plain next to the main lunch-place. Given the changing landscape within the park, the animal’s variety is huge. They hide in the forest very well but the more obvious animals like monkeys clearly underpin the different eco-systems. As such Lake Manyara NP offers the greatest variety in Tanzania in terms of monkeys. We would say: if you pass by the park, it's worth to stop for 4-6 hours and check it out - not worth however an entire journey. If you like a more remote lodge to stay in overnight, Et Unoto Retreat seems to be a good choice. It might have been in the past, but now, there are flights going from Arusha to Ngorongoro Crater there is no need to stop at that Lodge anymore. Thus it is empty and neither management nor staff is trying to help it by offering a good atmosphere. The flats are nicely located and have a great view. Same holds true for the beds and everything is spacey. But shower and WC look poor. Dinner atmosphere and food itself is terribly prepared. Bar is not really worth a try and the staff is not really educated or trained (neither in English nor in service). It seems that the management lost control or attention. click here: BACK TO Kenya and Tanzania Main Page