The heat of the day was waning, and the strong hot wind was starting to die down. As the sun sank closer to the horizon we walked out across the mud flats, towards the waters of Lake Natron. Backdropped by the dramatic rise of Ol Doinyo Lengai, ahead of us the lake was a flurry of activity. Thousands of flamingos tramped through the shallows, heads down, bills underwater, stirring up organic matter with their webbed feet. Swinging their heads back and forth, they filter-fed, letting the water flow through their bills. When they tired of feeding they marched in groups, heads high and in tight formation.
Just three metres deep but 22km wide, Lake Natron is the main breeding site in East Africa for 2.5 million lesser flamingos. In fact, 75 per cent of the world's population of these birds are born here, feeding on the
