Overview
Lake Eyasi is a seasonal shallow endorheic Salt Lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau, just south of the Serengeti National Park and immediately southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater in the Crater Highlands of Tanzania. The lake is elongated, orientated southwest to northeast, and lies in the Eyasi-Wembere branch of the Great Rift Valley
The Hadzabe bushmen live in this region, as do the Datoga and Mbulu tribes. A visit with the bushmen is worthwhile and they will graciously show you where and how they live and hunt. They subsist entirely off the bush and by bow hunting. Everything they use is made from local materials
Lake Eyasi’s water levels vary greatly between the rainy and dry seasons. During the dry season, the lake is virtually nonexistent and animals are forced to share what water is left, which makes for easier wildlife viewing. The lake can get quite deep during the rainy season and it attracts hippos who like to cool off in its brackish waters
Reasons to visit lake Eyasi
Visiting lake eyasi is a great detour from a northern circuit safari where the main attraction is culture exploration of the Hadzabe bushmen, the indigenous inhabitants are the last community of hunters and gatherers in Africa. Lake Eyasi has been their homeland for over 10,000 years. These tribe’s men are still holding to their traditional way of life, hunting and gathering different kinds of fruits and honey. With recent development activities towards the area endangering their communities, many are now forced to join civilization. A visit to their community is something you will most likely not want to miss
Migrating birds, this lake supports a mix of water birds including huge breeding-season (June to November) populations of flamingos and pelicans.
Things you can do in lake Eyasi
Walking safari
Cultural tour & activities with the Hadzabe Bushmen, Datoga People
Bird safari
Activities you can do with the Hadzabe bushmen
Discover plant species used by the Hadzabe for making poison arrows
Identify indigenous roots, tubers, fruits, herbs, leaves, and wild seeds that are used as food and medicine by the Hadzabe community.
Participate in hunting, collecting fruits, and wild honey gathering
Practice the local skills of using a bow and arrow during hunting activities
Experience a bushman trekking adventure and visit bushmen cave paintings
Getting to lake eyasi
Going to lake eyasi from Arusha is about 4 hours’ drive, after getting past the town of karatu the road heading to lake eyasi is rough so it is recommended to doing lake eyasi as a detour from our northern circuit safari and head there with our safari custom jeeps alternatively you can hire a private jeep from Arusha if you focus is just visit eyasi.
