Only a few algae, including spirulina, three endemic species of fish and flamingos are able to adapt to such a unique environment, while for the other animals the lake’s caustic waters are fatal, often transforming the unfortunate victims into veritable calcified salt statues, due to the chemical reaction that has an embalming power. Extremely salty and alkaline, due to the presence of natron, a sodium carbonate decahydrate, similar to ammonia, it is the natural habitat of cyanobacteria, from which derives the intense pink colour of the water and the plumage of the two million dwarf flamingos that every year migrate to the edge of the lake to reproduce, making this extraordinary place the main meeting point of the entire African continent for the conservation of the species.
The volcano and its surroundings preserve a unique ecosystem, of which Lake Natron is an appendage, formed by the waters that flow downstream, which are strongly alkaline and loaded with sodium.Ħ0 km long by 22 km wide, Lake Natron has a maximum depth of just 3 metres, is subject to strong evaporation, and its temperature can reach 60 degrees centigrade. Among the most spectacular volcanic landscapes in northern Tanzania, to the north of Ngorongoro and in the Great Rift Valley region, is the marvellous environmental area of Lake Natron and the stratovolcano of Ol Doinyo Lengai, “ the Mountain of God” in the Maasai language, which is still active today and rises to almost 3,000 metres.
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