![]() According to National Geographic, the creatures presumably died of natural causes and were salt-encrusted after death. Surprisingly, the lake’s pinkish waters serve as the only regular breeding ground for 2.5 million lesser flamingos in East Africa. Washed up along the shoreline, one can discover the bizarre calcified corpses of all kinds of birds and bats. Explore Lake NAtron The perfect Breeding Place for Flamingos : Lake Natron is a very lovely and attractive environment, with temperatures up to 60C and an alkalinity of exceeding pH 12. We spotted beautiful pink flamingos as we walked across the dried lakebed and came close to the shoreline. The lake is the only regular breeding area in East Africa for the 2.5 million lesser flamingoes, whose status of near threatened results from their dependence. Its a very salty lake and the temperature can reach 50C degrees. They built their nests on islands of evaporated salt. 97 of the lesser Flamingos are said to visit this lake. In fact, over three-quarters of the world’s population breeds here because food is plentiful and nesting sites abound. Visiting Lake Natron was one of our highlights!īesides feeding into the lake, the up to 50 degrees hot springs provide warm, mineral-rich water, which is ideal for the growth of salt-loving microorganisms devoured by millions of flamingos. Even though the mysterious Lake Natron, with its surreal and drastically varying landscape, is located close to Arusha, it was spared by mass tourism. However, it becomes home to millions of migrating flamingos of magnificent pink color. Walking through the golden savannah, we encountered kids as young as five years herding goats. They are constructed to keep the hot sand from burning your feed. Masai shoes are often crafted from old tires. In partnership with Birdlife International's global campaign to protect the last remaining breeding area for East Africa's flamingos - and to support communi. Trying to protect our feed from the hot sand, we quickly began to recognize the virtue of Masai shoes. Incredible numbers of Flamingos favour the alkaline waters of Lake Nakuru in Kenya and Lake Natron in Northern Tanzania. It was the last time for days that we had access to water. Looking back, we should have enjoyed the water a bit longer. We dived right into the freshwater pouring down on us. It’s almost unreal to see such a powerful and high waterfall after walking through absolute dryness for two hours. But we were excited to cool down after 2 hours of sweltering heat. The walk through the dramatic landscape of a savage was impressive. Lake Natron is of critical importance as it is the only breeding site for the entire East African population of Lesser Flamingos. We quickly earned our new nickname, “pole & pole,” which translates into slow. So, equipped and prepared for a “short” walk, we started walking in flip-flops with very little water. Their semi-nomadic lifestyle accustoms them to walking long distances under the burning sun of the African savannah. ![]() What we didn’t know back then: You can entirely rely on Masai people with anything BUT their definition of “nearby.” “There’s no certainty about why flamingos die in large numbers,” Harper said, but theories have suggested an infectious bout of pneumonia, he said.Massai and Papakinye proposed to visit the “nearby” waterfalls along the Ngare Sero river. He counted up to 1,000 fallen birds in a single day, and estimated that about 200,000 birds were lost that season. In fact, when Harper first visited Lake Bogoria in Kenya in 1989, he walked into one of the bigger die-offs in the East African population’s history. TONY KARUMBA / AFP - Getty Images fileīut large numbers of flamingos also have a tendency to die all at once, for reasons that remain unclear to researchers. ![]() Lesser flamingos are pictured on Septemin Lake Natron. A courting pair, plump from gulping down red algae and blushing from the pigment that the microbes leach into their skin, will produce a single oblong egg, laid in a miniature salt island made of the soda ash that precipitates out of the lake water as the water evaporates. Life and death on the banks of Lake Natronįlamingo flocks arrive at Natron annually, even though each bird will mate only once every four or five years.
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