Keen birders flock to Lake Natron, a salt lake located in northern Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border, in the eastern branch of the Great East African Rift Valley.

The Lake located in Engaresero village provides the most preferred breeding ground for Lesser Flamingos. The area is most suitable because of its abundance in food (blue-green algae), isolation of the breeding ground and far from human activities and availability of freshwater.

On the other hand, the Lake provides suitable substrates for nest construction and good feeding areas for chicks. Breeding season occurs during October-November.

The word ‘Natron’ comes from the sodium carbonate concentration produced as the water dries up and leaves such dissolved minerals on its shores.

The Lake extend to the eastern branch of East African Rift Valley to the Republic of Kenya and changes its name to Lake Magadi which is the southernmost Lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, lying in a catchment of faulted volcanic rocks, north of Tanzania’s Lake Natron. During the dry season, it is 80% covered by soda and is well known for its wading birds, including flamingos.

Lake Natron is fed by the Southern Ewaso Nyiro River and also by mineral-rich hot springs. It is quite shallow, less than three meters (10 feet) deep, and varies in width depending on its water level, which changes due to high levels of evaporation, leaving concentrations of salt and other minerals, notably sodium carbonate (natron).

The lake is also fed by another three smaller rivers on the Tanzania side which are: Engaresero River, Moinik River, and Pinyinyi River

The surrounding countryside is dry and receives irregular seasonal rainfall. The Lake falls within the Lake Natron Basin Wetlands of International Importance Ramsar Site. It’s managed by both countries (Tanzania and Kenya) under Cross-boundary biodiversity conservation strategy signed by all member states of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Temperatures in the Lake can reach 50 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit), and depend on rainfall, the alkalinity can reach a pH of 9 to 10.5 (almost as alkaline as ammonia)

Lake Natron has also been identified by Birdlife International as Important Bird Area (IBA) because of its tendency of holding a great number of globally threatened flamingo species that migrate between various alkaline lakes of East Africa.

Lake Natron is the only regular breeding area in East Africa for the 2.5 million Lesser Flamingoes, whose status of “near threatened” is a consequence of their dependence on the single breeding location. As salinity increases, so do the number of cyanobacteria, and the lake can support more nests. These flamingoes, the single large flock in East Africa, gather along saline lakes in the region, where they feed on Spirulina (blue – green algae). Lake Natron is a safe breeding location because its caustic environment is a barrier against predators trying to reach their nests on seasonally-forming evaporates islands. Greater Flamingo also breeds on the mud flats.

Even more amazing than the ability of the flamingoes to live in these conditions is the fact that two endemic fish species, the alkaline tilapias (Alcolapia lati labrids and A. ndalalani; A. alcalica is also present in the lake, but not endemic), thrive in the waters at the edges of the hot spring inlets.

Foot Print : The oldest verified human footprints are located at Laetoli village, Ngorongoro District in northern Tanzania, where the footmarks of three humans have been dated to be as old as 3.7 million years ago..

In the year 2006, the new footprints were found at Engaresero village 1 kilometer from Lake Natron. About 57 ancient footprints have been located, but this time dated 120,000 years ago. The family was getting larger.

To date researchers from different universities, TTB, the Division of Antiquities, Tourism Unit, Arusha Regional Administration, Donors and International Organizations including the ministry are some of the stakeholders that are working on documenting on this discovering and more details will be updated as we get more source of information.

Getting there: Nearly 220 km’s from Arusha city.