![]() ![]() We recommend this itinerary for travellers who seek a different experience to the classic safari. All depend on Tanzanias Lake Natron as a breeding site. ![]() Accommodation at Natron is limited and pretty basic. Three-quarters of the world population of lesser flamingos live and nest in East Africa. Lake Natron is home to ancient hominid footprints, the largest breeding ground for Lesser Flamingo and to Ol Doinyo Lengai, and its the only active carbonatite. Nestled between rolling volcanic hills and deep craters, Lake Natron sits at the lowest point of the rift valley 600m above sea level and is probably the. ![]() This isn’t a difficult trek but part of the route requires walking through water (which rarely reaches the knee height) so requires swimwear and non-slip footwear. The hike to the edge of the lake offers a magnificent sight the hike along the Engare Sero creek, which flows through a narrow rocky gorge, leads to a beautiful waterfall where it is possible to swim. The trails to reach Lake Natron (both from the Serengeti, taking about five to six hours, and from Manyara, taking about three to four hours) are extremely scenic and you will be able to meet the Maasai communities who live off most tourist circuits. At that time we stopped offering trekking on Oldonyo Leng’ai. The last eruption was in December 2007 – January 2008 (which we witnessed in person as we were right there!) and it made the climb to the volcano summit even tougher since the lava completely erased the temporary trail that could sometimes be followed, and the small flat areas for stopping to catch your breath have gone completely. After emission, when it comes into contact with water, the colour of natron-carbonatite lava changes rapidly to white, so that the top of the volcano seems to be cloaked in snow. When the lava is flowing it resembles a kind of very fluid, dark “river” that some have likened to a stream of mud. The area is extremely arid and dominated by the perfect cone of Oldoinyo Leng’ai, the volcano sacred to the Maasai people, who consider it the abode of the divinity Leng’ai.Īt an altitude of nearly three thousand metres above sea level, Oldoinyo Leng’ai is the only volcano in the world that emits natron-carbonatite lava, rich in sodium carbonate, with very low viscosity and temperatures since it rises at 500–590 ☌. Natron is the usual nesting area for millions of lesser pink flamingos who are fond of the cyanobacteria present in high concentration in the lake water, especially during the dry season (June to October), so they flock to its shores. It is a highly alkaline lake that occupies a depression created by the Rift Valley, a lava desert area of rugged beauty in the extreme north of Tanzania. Lake Natron is fifty kilometres in length and about twenty-five in width. Safari Crew Tanzania wins Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Award.Why is Tanzania the best Safari Destination? Lake Natron sits at the lowest point of the rift valley 600m above sea level and is probably the worlds most caustic body of water. Lake Natron in Tanzania is a highly inhospitable environment, with alkalinity levels above pH 12 and temperatures reaching 60 C.Lake Natron and Oldonyo Len’gai volcano.As isolated as the lake is (it wasn't even discovered by Europeans until 1954), there are no protections in place for the lake or its threatened flamingo population.įollow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. The serenity of Lake Natron - and its flamingo population - are threatened by a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Ewaso Ngiro River, the main river feeding the lake. As shallow lakes in a hot climate, their water temperatures can reach as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius). Both are terminal lakes that do not drain out to any river or sea they are fed by hot springs and small rivers. Lake Natron is one of two alkaline lakes in that area of East Africa the other is Lake Bahi. The flamingos' nests are built on small islands that form in the lake during the dry season. The lake is close to one of Tanzania’s larger towns, Arusha. During breeding season, more than 2 million lesser flamingos ( Phoenicopterus minor) use the shallow lake as their primary breeding ground in Africa. Lake Natron is a boundary lake and lies at the border of Kenya and Tanzania, in the northern part of the latter. ![]()
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