The fit and brave might like to try and climb Oldoinyo Lengai, an active volcano. After a few hours, you’ll reach a beautiful natural swimming pool surrounded by steep rock walls – showered by cascades of spring water and overlooked by palm trees. This walk winds up through a shady gorge (very welcome in the heat) between steep cliffs. You can walk up to the Engero Sero Waterfalls. You can walk out across the baked mud to the shores of the great soda lake itself, in which algae and zooplankton thrive – which in turn attract the flamingos that line the lake’s shore. They feed on an algae with red pigments.Īctivities in the Lake Natron area focus mainly on walks and enjoying the fascinating scenery. Due to the high presence of natron ( a mineral salt) in the lake, these birds undergo a natural process of mummification, and you can come across stoned birds washed up along the lake shores…įew predators can survive here, and the result is a safe breeding ground for the millions of flamingos who return here annually to nest.
#Natron lake in tanzania skin
Yet the clear water surface misleads birds who happily dive in the water, after which their skin burns and they tragically die. The alkalinity levels of the lake can become so concentrated, that they almost approach that of straight ammonia, and the water is often viscous to touch. Lake Natron sits at the lowest point of the rift valley – 600m above sea level – and is probably the world’s most caustic body of water. This area lies northeast of the Ngorongoro Crater close to the border of Kenya. Visit this area for its remoteness, spectacular scenery and the possibility to do a challenging night hike up to Oldoinyo Lengai, an active volcano. Lake Natron has been listed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance due to its unique biodiversity and has also been recognized as an important ecoregion by the World Wildlife Fund.Eat some dust on your way to remote Lake Natronĭo you like to roughen it a bit? Do you like to beat the crowds in Tanzania, enjoy some off road driving on dusty and bumpy back roads? If the answer is yes - than Roadtrip Africa highly recommends a visit to Lake Natron, an out-of-space experience. The lake enchants bird watcher’s across the world as large groups of flamingoes can be strutting around, the spectacle often referred to as the ‘pink parade’.
The high salinity of the lake ensures maximum food for these birds as they feed on the tilapia and the algae. Lake Natron is the most important breeding site in the world for Lesser Flamingoes as 75 percent of the world’s population of these flamingoes are hatched at the lake. An endemic species of fish, the alkaline tilapia, has adapted to the lake and lives along the edges of its hot spring inlets. It is a drying as well as anti-bacterial agent so immersion in natron can suck all the moisture out of a dead body and preserve it against microorganisms that will feed on it.Īnimals that die here can turn into calcified statues over time, because of the unique chemical makeup of the lake, which encrusts the carcasses with layers of salt, sodium carbonates, and sodium bicarbonates.Īlso Read: Did You Know That World’s Only Floating National Park Is In Manipur? Inhospitable To Most, Thriving A Fewĭespite having the most alkaline waters, Lake Natron supports an ecosystem of salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, flamingos and other wetland birds. Natron, after which the lake has been named, is a mineral salt that ancient Egyptians used for the mummification process. High levels of evaporation cause natron to be left behind in its bed.
Volcanic ash from the Great Rift Valley is collected in its basin, making the lake hostile to most organisms. The water from the lake also does not drain out to any river or sea. Located in an arid region where rainfall is erratic, the terminal lake is fed by hot springs and small rivers. The salty crust, however, changes over time, giving the lake a different appearance each time. The lake gets its reddish hue from salt-loving microorganisms called halophiles that thrive in its alkaline waters and produce reddish pigments, which color the lake’s salt crust red. Also Read: This Lake In Uttarakhand Contains Hundreds Of Skeletons Belonging To 800 AD What Makes Lake Natron Unique?
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