Great views, lovely swimming pool, game drives into Manyara
Guide Price: From: $375 To: $485
Lake Manyara Serena is a comfortable, but rather unexciting hotel, but it does have one of the country's best swimming pools. There are also possibly the best views of Lake Manyara and easy access to the park for game drives.
Lake Manyara Serena is a fair quality hotel within easy reach of Arusha and very close to Lake Manyara National Park. It sits on the top of the Rift Valley escarpment overlooking the northern end of Lake Manyara.
Like all the Serena Hotels this place is more dependable than exciting, with extremely nice staff and good quality of service. Rooms are comfortable and clean and food is of good quality. Serena Lodge isn't, and doesn't pretend to be, a small bush camp so it slightly lacks the atmosphere and intimacy that you'd get in many of the smaller camps in Tanzania. It's also not as luxurious as somewhere like Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.
If you prefer smaller camps then Gibb's Farm and Plantation Lodge in Karatu are probably a better bet. However, there are a couple of things about Lake Manyara Serena Lodge that are outstanding. The first is the stupendous view of Lake Manyara itself. You are literally right on the edge of the escarpment and below you the ground falls away over 1000ft to the bottom of the rift valley floor. Add to that the second thing, which is the swimming pool at Serena Lodge, right on the edge of the rift and you can see that there aren't many better places to while away an afternoon, particularly if you have children with you.
From: 375 To: 485
Great views, lovely swimming pool, game drives into Manyara
price includes accommodation, food, drinks, laundry, activities and excludes transfers.
50 miles or so west of Arusha, at the northern end of Lake Manyara, you reach the edge of the Great Rift Valley that runs the length of the continent. This is a geological feature on a major scale; a virtual cliff that rises up some 1000ft out of the floor of the rift valley. A number of the lodges close to Lake Manyara are located close to edge of the Escarpment and consequently have truly spectacular views, either of Lake Manyara itself or of Lossimigor Volcano (dormant) and the surrounding landscape. This is one of the few places you are likely to see eagles and vultures soaring below you which makes a change. Read more?
Tanzania safaris rival a safari any other country in Africa in terms of sheer wilderness, formidable landscapes and volume of wildlife. At Natural High, we have travelled all over the country, worked in some of its best Tanzania safari camps and lodges and flown all over as bush pilots so we feel qualified to venture such opinions. Read more?
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Vanessa's 16 years in travel has seen her knowledge develop from sub-Saharan Africa into North Africa, Central and Southern America and the Galapagos. Consequently, she’s a veritable encyclopaedia of travel information and exceptionally cool, calm and collected in the face of the greatest planning demands.
At Natural High, we've had long experience putting together trips in Africa that really work. Whether it's intimate bushcamps in out of the way places, or a private lodge in one of Africa's top-billing wildlife areas, light mobile camping or remote island escapes, we know there is a lot to choose from. We're absolutely confident that we can recommend the right places for you.
