Within the concession area you can walk to the hominid footprints where researchers have catalogued rare finds of well-preserved human footprints left in the mud between 5,000 and 19,000 years ago. Tip: This is best done at sunrise or sunset when the weather is cooler. Please note that this must be booked prior to arrival. Hop on a mountain bike and go exploring around the local area with your guide.
There is nowhere else in Africa like Lake Natron, and the flamingos are especially popular with children, making it the perfect addition to a family safari in Tanzania.Įxperience Lake Natron on wheels. The best times to view these amazing birds are either at sunrise or at sunset when the heat isn’t so ferocious. The Lake Flats around the water’s edge contain small lakes, streams and hills providing a variety of hospitable environments for birds that thrive in the alkali oasis. In fact, approximately 75% of the world’s lesser flamingos are born at Lake Natron. Other animals which inhabit this area are zebra, ostrich, fringed eared oryx, gazelle, gerenuk, lesser kudu and golden jackal.ĪCTIVITIES TO INCLUDE ON A LAKE NATRON TOURĪcross eastern Africa, the lesser flamingo feed on algae found in soda lakes but they choose to breed at Lake Natron almost exclusively. The lake is also home to endemic algae, invertebrates and even fish that can survive in the slightly less salty water. The most interesting, otherworldly thing about the lake is the solitary, mummified birds occasionally seen along the shoreline, calcified over a long period of time, turned into strange fossils.
FLAMINGOS LAKE NATRON SKIN
The pH and temperature levels in the water are so high that it can burn off the skin and eyes of animals that aren't adapted to it. Because Lake Natron’s caustic environment is a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests on seasonally-forming evaporite islands, it’s a safe breeding location. In fact, the lake is home to the highest concentrations of lesser and greater flamingos in East Africa where they feed on the lake’s spirulina – a green algae with red pigments. The views alone are worth the journey! Home to the Maasai and over one million flamingos, Lake Natron is a perfect base for amazing adventures! The area around the lake offers different attractions like a large number of volcanic implosion craters, numerous waterfalls and ravines with nesting places for Rüppell's Griffon Vultures.įor many plants and animals, the saline waters make the lake inhospitable, yet the salt water marshes surrounding the lake are a surprising habitat for flamingos whose leathery skins make them able to withstand the deadly waters. The country surrounding the lake is hot and often very dusty and dry, which isn’t very conducive to travel, but the people who choose to visit Natron are rewarded with some of the most visually compelling scenes in the world. It’s less than three meters (10 feet) deep, so it’s very shallow, and it varies in width depending on its water level, which changes due to high levels of evaporation, leaving high concentrations of salt magnesite and sodium carbonate (natron) on its surface…which shows as a pinkish-white soda crust. The lake is fed by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River and by mineral-rich hot springs. Situated between its volcanic hills and deep craters, Lake Natron is at the lowest point of the rift valley – 600m above sea level – and is probably the world's most caustic body of water. If you’d like to include Lake Natron in your big Tanzania safari, keep reading to find out more about this amazing place. Lake Natron is home to ancient hominid footprints, the largest breeding ground for Lesser Flamingo and to Ol Doinyo Lengai, and it’s the only active carbonatite volcano in the world. Lake Natron is situated in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya, close to Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
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