Flamingos
On the shore.
Clem23 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Clem23 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Christoph Strässler — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — CC BY 2.0
Natron is a shallow salt lake in the Rift Valley of northern Tanzania. Water spreads across a flat plain, white and red salt crusts line its shores, dry grass surrounds it, and Ol Doinyo Lengai rises on the horizon to the south. The lake is highly alkaline, with a pH that can exceed 12, and is fed mainly by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River from Kenya and by mineral-rich hot springs. It is less than 3 m deep, up to 57 km long and 22 km wide, and temperatures around it often top 40 °C. It is the only regular breeding ground in East Africa for some 2.5 million lesser flamingos, and a Ramsar wetland site. You walk to the southern shore to watch flamingos from a distance and the salt on the ground, with Lengai behind. The southern shore is near the village of Engare Sero, about 16 km north of Ol Doinyo Lengai. It is very hot, so bring water and a hat, keep off the thin salt crust, and do not touch the water, which is caustic.
On the shore.
White and red.
On the horizon.
North Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, on the Kenya border
No, the water is highly alkaline.
Numbers vary by season; ask local guides.