![]() 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. Usually Lake Natron will be visited after Lake Manyara National Park.Lake Natron is situated in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya, close to Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lake Natron is also well connected other National parks, such as: Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the south and the Northern Serengeti National Park in the west. Tens of thousands of other birds can be spotted near the lake, making Lake Natron a prime destination for bird lovers in Africa. Lake Natron is also home to some endemic algae, invertebrates and other birds. Some fish species (such as tilapia) can survive in the slightly less salty water near the shore. Larger flamingos also breed in the Wadden Sea. Cyanobacteria are increasing with the salinity of the water, and the lake can carry more nests. Every year, more than two million flamingos come here to lay their eggs and chicks hatch between September and April. ![]() It therefore provides a good barrier against predators trying to reach nests on seasonal evaporation islands. Lake Natron, the perfect breeding place for Flamingosįlamingos find a safe breeding ground at Lake Natron, since most other animals find its caustic environment and high temperature of the lake (up to 60☌) as well as its high salinity inhospitable. Salt-loving microorganisms living there are coloring the alkali salt crust on the surface of the lake is red or pink. ![]() The red pigment in those cyano bacteria produces the deep red colors of the lake’s waters and the orange colors in the shallow areas. Such halophilic organisms include some cyano bacteria that, like plants, produce their own food through photosynthesis. Special bacteria and blue algae thrive in this environment and form an ideal breeding ground for the life of birds. The alkalinity of the lake can reach a pH level of more than 12. The temperatures at the lake are often over 40 ° C.Īs the fresh water evaporates in the lake, water with high concentrations of salt minerals such as sodium and trona remains. The area receives irregular seasonal rainfall, mainly between December and May. The lake is 57 kilometers long and 22 kilometers wide. Lake Natron is quite shallow, less than three meters deep, and varies in width depending on its water level. The lake lays at the foot of the Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano. It is located in the Gregory Rift, the eastern branch of the East African Rift. ![]() ![]() Lake Natron is a salt or soda lake not far from Lake Manyara in northern Tanzania. ![]()
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