The masses became aware of the existence of an unusual reservoir relatively recently: a few years ago photos of Lake Natron in Tanzania were published in a British magazine. It is famous for the fact that the water in the lake has a bright red color, and the birds that once flew over this place turn into salty stones.

Lake Natron is a lake situated in the northern region of Tanzania near the great east African rift valley.Lake Natron is one of Tanzania’s most famous natural attractions. The lake is very rich in soda and salt and a habitat to numerous flamingos. The lake is one of the most alkaline lakes in Africa very rich in minerals the pH of the lake water is said to be 10.5 and can burn animals that are not acquainted with the water.

The water temperatures at Lake Natron can reach 41 degrees Celsius. During dry season the salinity of the lake dramatically increases.

This Tanzania safari destination is filled with mystery and adventure. Lake Natron is fed by Ewaso Ng’iro River that originated from Central Kenya and other hot springs and the lake doesn’t drain to any river or sea the only way water is let out is through evaporation it’s very shallow but covers 22 kilometers in width and 57 kilometers in length, the depth is about 3 meters only. Lake Natron derived its name from Natron a compound made with sodium carbonate and baking soda. Lake Natron water is very salty enough to poison some animals infact photographer Nick Brandt once found dead birds on the lake shores but were as hard as rock this were turned into statues due to calcification and preserved by sodium bicarbonate, though it’s not very clear how they die but might be due to confusion of the lakes surface that changes colors making the birds to drip in. You can see all this on your Tanzania holiday. The algae that grows on Lake Natron feeds million lesser flamingoes and during dry seasons the flamingoes breed on the salt islands that form on the lake wen the water levels have decreased. Lake Natron support Tilapia fish and lesser flamingoes which breed here. Lake Natron has got orange color on the shallow parts and red or pink hue like color in the steep parts, this is due to the crust created by the alkali salt. Activities at Lake Natronīird watching: Lake Natron is the best destination for bird enthusiasts especially those fond of flamingoes.

Lake natron birds