Emirates and Qatar Airlines do fly into Dar es Salaam, as does Swiss Air via Zurich and South African Airways from Johannesburg. You can book the return flight from Dar es Salaam instead of Kilimanjaro Airport, making it useful as Zanzibar is a 15-minute from Dar es Salaam on a plane. It's the only long-haul flight that travels directly to the Kilimanjaro Airport to Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Tarangire National Park. It's also the ideal flight to take if you want to add on a beach getaway in Zanzibar to your East African safari. Your best connection to Tanzania flying worldwide from North and South America, Middle East, Asia, Australia and Europe is KLM. On the other hand, Kilimanjaro Airport is located about one hour away from the city and is used for international flights. The latter is located about ten minutes from the city centre and is used predominantly for regional (internal) flights. It has two airports, namely the Kilimanjaro Airport and Arusha Airport. Read MoreĪrusha is located in the north of Tanzania and the main entrance for tourists. Accommodation is available near the park while hikes up the surrounding slopes offer excellent lake views. Its convenient location makes the lake an easy add-on to your trip to or from the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater or for those hiking the active volcano, Ol Donyo Lengai. Lake Natron is located 135 kilometres north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and a similar distance from the Serengeti National Park. The lake is largely inhospitable to most life forms, thus providing 2.5 million flamingos protection from greedy predators eyeing their eggs. The lake has great ecological importance as it is the only place in East Africa where the flamingos breed, in a safe environment where the water’s alkaline nature deters much other life from settling in the surrounding area. Fed by mineral-rich springs and the Ewaso Ng’iro River, the lake is part of the East Rift Valley and lies north of the Ngorongoro Crater. The salmon-pink birds can be seen gingerly picking their way through the soda lake and nesting on ash-coloured mud mounds. The uniqueness of Lake Natron prompted Tanzania to add the lake to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on July 4, 2001.The fierce colours of Lake Natron melt from burnt oranges to fuchsias and maroons, while once a year a colour clash of magnificent proportions occurs as East Africa’s largest flock of lesser flamingos swarm to the lake to breed. Depending on rainfall, its alkalinity can approach that of straight ammonia, and when the lake is flooded with water that has heated underground, its temperature can reach a scalding 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit). Flamingoes must exercise caution, however, because the lake can turn deadly even to them. This forbidding environment enables Lake Natron to serve millions of flamingoes as the ideal nursery would-be predators avoid the saline lake and leave young birds in peace. Volcanic ash from the Great Rift Valley has collected in local lake basins, creating a network of soda lakes hostile to most organisms. The salt crust changes over time, giving the lake a slightly different appearance each time it is photographed by astronauts or imaged by satellites. This image simulates natural color, showing where the salt-loving microorganisms have colored the lake’s salt crust red or pink. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) flying on the Terra satellite captured this image on March 8, 2003. Spirulina, a blue-green algae with red pigments, passes its pigments along to the Lesser Flamingoes that feed on the algae and raise their young here. An endemic species of fish, the alkaline tilapia, lives along the edges of the hotspring inlets, and the lake actually derives its color from salt-loving microorganisms that thrive in its alkaline waters. This bright red lake is the world’s most caustic body of water, but not to everything. Lake Natron, in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, practically sends a warning with its color.
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