Lake Eyasi
Lake Eyasi is located about 75 km from the Ngorongoro Crater and 100 km from the Serengeti. It’s an excellent add-on to a safari in either or both of those areas, as well as a great destination in its own right!
When to go to Lake Eyasi
Best Time to Go
Visit Lake Eyasi between June and October for the best experience.
A spectacular Salt Lake
Birding, hikes, and cultural experiences
Waterbirds and interesting fish species
Comfortable accommodation at Ziwani Lodge
Explore the Lake’s Shores
Lake Eyasi is well worth visiting. Local eco-lodge Ziwani provides opportunities for birding, hiking, and fascinating cultural experiences!
The lake is situated about 75 kilometers south-west of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and 100 kilometers south of the Serengeti National Park. This area is known as the Serengeti Plateau. Eyasi occupies its base, on the floor of the spectacular Great Rift Valley.
Activities
Our recommended Lake Eyasi lodge, Ziwani, offers birding, hiking, and some fascinating cultural experiences. If you’re a keen birder, make sure you bring your binoculars!
Eyasi's birdlife and marine life
Hike on the Lake Shores
Meet local communities
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Eyasi boasts an exciting variety of birdlife! Among the area’s highlights are flamingos, great white pelican, gray-headed gull, yellow-billed stork, pied avocet, and African spoonbill. The two main fish species in the lake are lungfish and catfish.
Hikes take you along the shores of the lake, surrounded by a beautiful landscape of baobab trees and rock kopjes, and often involve viewing ancient rock art.
Wander through local villages and meet members of the Hadza and Datooga tribes. The former, now numbering just a thousand, are skilled hunter-gatherers. The men hunt both large and small animals using bows and arrows, while the women forage for berries and fruit. The Datooga are superb silversmiths, making hunting tools for the Hadzabe in exchange for skins and food. Spending any amount of time with these people makes for a thrilling experience!
History
The age of Lake Eyasi is estimated at 65 million years, just after dinosaurs became extinct. The feature formed due to the opening of a rift on the valley floor. For over 50,000 years, hunter–gatherers known as the Hadza or Hadzabe have lived around the lake’s shores. To the south-east, specifically the swampy Yaeda Valley, there are the Datooga, a pastoralist people.
Talk to someone who’s been there
Real expertise doesn’t come from a few trips to Africa. All our specialists have either been guides, run the camps, or grown up and lived in Africa. That’s over 600 years of genuine safari experience.Good to Know
01.How long should I spend in Lake Eyasi?
A stay of at least two nights here can combine well with a safari in the Serengeti and/or the Ngorongoro Crater.
02.Top months to visit?
Tanzania receives little to no rainfall during the months from June to October, so this is the period to consider if you’re interested in the easiest wildlife viewing. As Lake Eyasi dries up, local species are particularly visible as they tend to cluster around the dwindling water supply.
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