When travelers think of Tanzania, Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and the island of Zanzibar come to mind. These places are usually on the wish list when planning a trip to the East African country. And they are definitely the tourist lighthouses of the country, which nevertheless has so much more to offer.
For example, 45 kilometers straight from Kilimanjaro
there is Lake Chala, a crater lake unlike any other. At 95 meters, Lake Chala is deeper than the huge Lake Victoria, but only 4.2 square kilometers in size. Free of crocodiles, hippos and even the dreaded parasites that cause schistosomiasis, it is considered one of the safest lakes in Africa. The lake, which is fed only by groundwater and rain, is of great interest to geologists because the 250,000-year-old crater is free of mud influences or water circulation because there is no river flowing in and out. In 2016, a 200-meter-deep borehole revealed a sediment structure that provides information about the thousands of years before the crater was formed.
For tourists, however, it is not only Lake Chala
with is interesting. Also the surrounded savanna is part of the protected area and allows relaxed hikes of several hours with the chance to see gazelles such as dik-diks, bush-buck, kudu and different type of monkeys. Even snakes can be seen, but yes they know how to hide. The bird life also attracts many interested visitors, various species of eagles including the African fish eagle, as well as owls, hawks, various cuckoos and many different seed and bee-eaters, wild hares, mongoose inhabit burrows and rock holes, Genet and Serval find food here. And at night, porcupines roam around. Sometimes you can hear the laughter of hyenas in the distance. The border lake between Tanzania and Kenya is definitely worth a visit and we have a new tour on request. By the way, elephants were sighted again this month, after a long time.