After a failed attempt to cross from the Serengeti into the Masai Mara, due to the dis functional border crossing, we found ourselves just outside the park on the Eastern border (Kliens Gate). On roads that due not exist on the map, and towns with no names, we found ourselves in a fairly bad situation. Luckily however, we bumped into a tour guide who convinced us to follow him through the maze of dirt roads to a nearby lake, called Lake Natron.Although few people actually visit the lake, it turned out to be quite an amazing place, and i think we all agreed - like no other we had ever seen. At the foot of 'Ol Dyongo Lengai', a massive active volcano and the Masai "Holly Mountain", this was no normal lake. We first drove down an impressively steep yellow-sand mountain pass to find a basin that changed with every passing kilometer. One moment the ground would be desert, holding no life, and then along a clear line it would change to lush green swamp-land, and then to massive black volcanic rock.
We only spent one night camping next to this bizarre lake, before making a massive, and accidental, detour back to Arusha. Oh well, all is well that ends well! Another great place that we would otherwise have missed all together...
