This is a harsh, wild and fascinating region. Young children herd goats, elders in bright red togas sit under acacias and the morani (warriors) watch guard, spears in their hands, intricate beading around their necks and ochre in their hair. The wildlife lives side by side with the Maasai and scattered throughout the surrounding plains are numerous Maasai manyattas (villages), crooked sticks and cracked clay houses arranged around cattle kraals under the hot sun. ![]() An endemic species of fish, the alkaline tilapia, lives along the edges of the hotspring inlets, and the lake actually derives its color from salt-loving. This bright red lake is the world’s most caustic body of water, but not to everything. Natron is also the only known breeding ground for East Africa's millions of lesser flamingos which cover the lake between August and October. Lake Natron, in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, practically sends a warning with its color. There is good game viewing and birding in this harsh landscape with dry country species such as gerenuk, lesser kudu and oryx a speciality. Lying in a beautifully scenic area below the Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Natron has such a high concentration of sodium, that the water is often viscous to the touch. Further north still is the spectacular soda lake of Natron. There are rugged mountains where vultures soar and baboon bark, dusty gorges where the Maasai bring their cattle to drink and endless grassy plains. According to National Geographic, the creatures presumably died of natural causes and were salt-encrusted after death.North of the Ngorongoro Crater, and far from the beaten track, you will find the Maasai's Mountain of God - Ol Doinyo L'Engai.Īn active carbonate volcano, it is a focal point for the Maasai, whose land stretches out for hundreds of miles from it. Washed up along the shoreline, one can discover the bizarre calcified corpses of all kinds of birds and bats. We spotted beautiful pink flamingos as we walked across the dried lakebed and came close to the shoreline. They built their nests on islands of evaporated salt. In fact, over three-quarters of the world’s population breeds here because food is plentiful and nesting sites abound. Visiting Lake Natron was one of our highlights!īesides feeding into the lake, the up to 50 degrees hot springs provide warm, mineral-rich water, which is ideal for the growth of salt-loving microorganisms devoured by millions of flamingos. Even though the mysterious Lake Natron, with its surreal and drastically varying landscape, is located close to Arusha, it was spared by mass tourism. However, it becomes home to millions of migrating flamingos of magnificent pink color. Walking through the golden savannah, we encountered kids as young as five years herding goats. They are constructed to keep the hot sand from burning your feed. Masai shoes are often crafted from old tires. Trying to protect our feed from the hot sand, we quickly began to recognize the virtue of Masai shoes. It was the last time for days that we had access to water. Looking back, we should have enjoyed the water a bit longer. We dived right into the freshwater pouring down on us. Seeing such a powerful and high waterfall after walking through absolute dryness for two hours is almost unreal. But we were excited to cool down after 2 hours of sweltering heat. The walk through the dramatic landscape of a savage was impressive. We quickly earned our new nickname, “pole & pole,” which translates into slow. So, equipped and prepared for a “short” walk, we started walking in flip-flops with very little water. Their semi-nomadic lifestyle accustoms them to walking long distances under the burning sun of the African savannah. ![]() What we didn’t know back then: You can entirely rely on Masai people with anything BUT their definition of “nearby.” Massai and Papakinye proposed to visit the “nearby” waterfalls along the Ngare Sero river.
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