Lake Natron is the most significant and regular breeding site for the majority of the world population of Phoenicopterus minor.
During dry years the area is a rather featureless plain fringed with low acacia scrub and heavily grazed by herds of Masai cattle and goats. Beyond this lies a shallow plain which is occasionally inundated over a further 4,000 ha. Surrounding this lake is a swamp that can extend for up to 3 km, especially to the north and south-east. The centre of the depression is a semi-permanent lake covering in excess of 400 ha. Engaruka is a shallow depression in the Rift Valley 50 km north-north-east of Lake Manyara and 58 km south south-east of Lake Natron. Otherwise the general area is sparsely populated, the lack of fresh water in the dry season controlling the populations of both man and livestock. There is some seasonal cultivation along the riverbanks and a small settlement in the south associated with a minor soda-extraction plant and a few small tourist camps. Seasonal drainage from within Tanzania includes major rivers from the Loita Hills (rising in Kenya) and Longido mountains in the north-west, the Gol mountains in the west, the Ngorongoro Highlands to the south and minor streams from Mount Gelai in the south-east.The surrounding land is dry bush dominated by Acacia thorn-trees, inhabited by pastoralist Masai. The lake’s principal inflow is the perennial Ewaso Ngiro river which rises on the Mau Escarpment in Kenya and flows southwards along the eastern edge of the Nguruman Hills. The water is highly saline with chloride concentrations reaching 65,000 mg/litre and is unsuitable for direct human and livestock use. There are considerable seasonal fluctuations in surface area between the middle of the dry season (November–December) and the end of the rains (April–May). Although its surface area can reach 850 km², the maximum depth is only 50 cm. It extends 58 km south from the Kenyan border with a mean width of 15 km. Lake Natron is a shallow soda-lake in a closed basin on the floor of the Eastern Rift Valley.
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