This continuous formation is what causes these underwater slopes that make it look like there are waterfalls underneath the sea. This is because in tectonic plate movement terms, Mauritius is still a very new island and as such, it’s formation is still underway. “How can that be”, you ask? Well, turns out, it’s an optical illusion created by sand and silt. While all these things are nice, there is one particularly strange yet unmissable attraction to the southwestern shore of the island: an underwater waterfall! You just know that it’s spoilt rich with unbelievable white sandy beaches, heavenly weather and unique flora and fauna as far as the eyes can see. Some 2,000 kilometres away from mainland Africa lies a beautiful remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean called Mauritius. The Gorgeous Underwater Fall Of Mauritius The depression is forever sinking, as a result, has mini-volcanoes that actually have bubbling lava lakes, several multi-coloured hydrothermal fields and vast salt pans that will dazzle your eyes.ĭo not be deceived, this beauty is only to be observed from afar (no pun intended) because even what looks like land within the acidic pools are crusts of sulfur and salt!ĥ. The Danakil Depression is caused by the movement of tectonic plates of the Afar Triple Junction (where three tectonic plates meet). Yes, what might look like pools of water are actually acidic pools. Located near the border with Eritrea in the Afar region, north-east of Ethiopia, the Danakil Depression is believed to be an accurate depiction of what “hell on Earth” would look like.įorget about the scorching heat and the fact that it receives almost no rain all year round, the Danakil Depression has something even more bizarre in store: acidic pools. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the lowest, the hottest and the driest places on Earth. Swimming is allowed and the water is very safe. This lake is so salty that its alkaline content goes up to 40 percent in some areas. The planktons and minerals here give this lake an unusual hue that has turned it into a major tourist attraction in the region. The reason behind this lake’s fabulous colour is the presence of Dunaliella salina algae in the water. This breathtakingly unusual lake can be found some 30 kilometres northeast of the capital, Dakar. If red is to Lake Natron in Tanzania, then pink is to Lake Retba in Senegal. A forest that is, for all intents and purposes, frozen in time. Now all that remains are these blackened skeletons of 900-year-old trees trapped within a white clay marsh doomed to forever haunt the valley beneath the high rusty sand dunes. The intense desert sun scorched them into nothing but blackened bones skeletons of what they used to be. So harsh was the heat that the camel thorn trees that were once lush and green, dried out instead of dying and decomposing. However, after about 200 years, the climate changed, sand dunes encroached and cut off the river thus denying the marsh its life source. This flood formed shallow pools within the marshes where camel thorn trees grew. The story behind Deadvlei is that it’s a clay pan that formed a few thousand years back as the Tsauchab river flooded thanks to heavy rains.
This barren pit is now surrounded by some of the world’s highest sand dunes that have slowly rusted over the years and now have a fiery complexion that comes in sharp contrast with the dead marsh beneath. The hauntingly spectacular Deadvlei was once a beautiful marshland that dried up for whatever reason. While touring the red dunes of Namib Rand is a good enough reason to head out to this southern Africa country, there is one spot in particular that tends to attract most tourists: The Deadvlei.ĭeadvlei means “dead marshes” from the English word “dead” and an Afrikaans word “vlei” meaning marshes. When was the last time you saw a red lake with mummies floating around in it?Ī huge chunk of Namibia is desert with majestic sand dunes and all kinds of wildlife. Lake Natron is also commonly known as the “Petrifying Lake“. Thanks to the extremely high volumes of sodium bicarbonate, these dead animal bodies are calcified and turned into mummies. What’s strange about Lake Natron is that animals that die in it stay in a mummified form as they are turned into statues. For all intents and purposes, this is a lake you would want to visit simply because it has such inherent beauty.
#Lake natron mummies series
Thousands of lesser flamingoes flock its shores to breed and just a short distance, there are a series of waterfalls and the majestic Ol Doinyo Lengai mountain. While Lake Natron is a typical lake, except for the little fact that it has striking red waters (thanks to its high alkaline content) and it’s one of the most mineral-rich soda lakes in the region. In Tanzania, there is a lake called Natron.
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