andBeyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge

Within Lake Manyara National Park in northern Tanzania, on a concession that positions the camp within the forested escarpment above the lake’s alkaline flats, andBeyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge occupies a position in one of the most layered ecological environments in East Africa: the park encompasses the Rift Valley escarpment forest, the groundwater forest at the escarpment’s base, the lake’s alkaline shallows, and the floodplain grassland between them, supporting tree-climbing lions — the only known population in Tanzania — alongside elephant, hippo, flamingo, and the most diverse birdlife of any national park in the region. The ten tree houses are built into the canopy of the fig and mahogany trees that shade the camp, with private decks above the forest floor and the sounds of the surrounding woodland as the primary sensory environment of each accommodation.

Night drives in the park’s forest section, where the tree-climbing lions of Manyara have developed their arboreal habits in response to the specific conditions of the dense groundwater forest, provide the most distinctive wildlife experience available at this location and one unavailable elsewhere in Tanzania. Walking safaris in the Rift Valley escarpment above the park with a Maasai guide, canoe excursions on the lake’s alkaline margins where flamingo flocks and pelican colonies gather, and game drives through the park’s five distinct habitats provide the full range of the Manyara experience. The tree house accommodation gives the camp a distinctive architectural character, with the construction into the trees accomplished without damage to the host trees’ root systems or canopy structure.

andBeyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge’s conservation work focuses on the specific challenges of the park’s groundwater forest — the ecosystem on which the tree-climbing lion behaviour depends and which faces pressure from agricultural encroachment on the escarpment above — through support for the Tanzania National Parks Authority’s forest monitoring programme and the andBeyond Africa Foundation’s community investment in the agricultural communities adjacent to the park boundary.