Ani­mals that die in this African lake are turned into stat­ues, through cal­ci­fi­ca­tion. The pres­ence of huge vol­umes of sodi­um bicar­bon­ate ensures they turn into mum­mies. And because of the high alka­line col­lec­tion, the lake looks red in col­or, espe­cial­ly dur­ing sum­mer in Tan­za­nia. This is the rea­son why this lake is also known as the ‘Pet­ri­fy­ing Lake’. In spite of all these con­di­tions, it is graz­ing ground for the Less­er Flamin­gos. It is cov­ered with a thick crust of salt, which is peri­od­i­cal­ly col­ored in dif­fer­ent shades of pink and red. Its water is more like strong alka­line liquor, and besides, it is very hot (from +40°C to +50°C). Touch­ing it threat­ens a tourist with instant chem­i­cal burns, and ani­mals that have fall­en into it and died in the process slow­ly turn into salt mum­mies. If you take into account the pun­gent smell of hydro­gen sul­fide from the sur­face of the reser­voir and the heat char­ac­ter­is­tic of Tan­za­nia, it becomes clear that the jour­ney to Lake Natron is a test for the des­per­ate extreme. And sur­pris­ing­ly, there are many of them. What is also strik­ing is the fact that this water body, for all its char­ac­ter­is­tics, is not life­less. It is here where hun­dreds of thou­sands of small flamin­gos nest and feed. Algae, microor­gan­isms, and even two fish species live in the water. The areas sur­round­ing Natron are home to zebras, ostrich­es, gazelles, less­er kudu, and jack­als. Area: 886,34998 sq. km., vol­ume: 600 cubic meters, depth avg: 0,69999999 m, shore length: 171,08 m, res time: 211,39999, ele­va­tion: 602