

The country surrounding the lake is hot and often very dusty and dry, which isn’t very conducive to travel, but the people who choose to visit Natron are rewarded with some of the most visually compelling scenes in the world. It’s less than three meters (10 feet) deep, so it’s very shallow, and it varies in width depending on its water level, which changes due to high levels of evaporation, leaving high concentrations of salt magnesite and sodium carbonate (natron) on its surface…which shows as a pinkish-white soda crust.


The lake is fed by the Southern Ewaso Ng'iro River and by mineral-rich hot springs. Situated between its volcanic hills and deep craters, Lake Natron is at the lowest point of the rift valley – 600m above sea level – and is probably the world's most caustic body of water. If you’d like to include Lake Natron in your big Tanzania safari, keep reading to find out more about this amazing place. Lake Natron is home to ancient hominid footprints, the largest breeding ground for Lesser Flamingo and to Ol Doinyo Lengai, and it’s the only active carbonatite volcano in the world. Lake Natron is situated in northern Tanzania on the border with Kenya, close to Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
