Flamingoes thrive where others perishįlamingos aren't negatively affected by the bacteria in Lake Natron that harms most other birds.

This is a good environment for the growth of a kind of bacteria that damages the innards of the organisms that drink it. Lake Natron contains large salt, soda and magnesite deposits. Because the water coming into the lake leaches through the volcanic material of nearby Mt Ol Doinyo Lengai, the lake’s water is highly alkaline. The lake has no outlets, and receives most of its water from springs and episodic streams. Lake Natron receives only 400 mm of rain a year, and much of that is ‘phantom rain’ – rain that evaporates before hitting the surface. This is a harsh, wild and fascinating region.Here are some facts you'll want to share with others for the wow factor! 1. 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. Natron is also the only known breeding ground for East Africa’s millions of lesser flamingos which cover the lake between August and October.

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. An active carbonate volcano, it is a focal point for the Maasai, whose land stretches out for hundreds of miles from it. North of the Ngorongoro Crater, and far from the beaten track, you will find the Maasai’s Mountain of God - Ol Doinyo L’Engai.

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