Pretty in Pink

Question: What colorful bird species found in Ngorongoro Crater turn their heads upside down to eat—and live in corrosive waters that will burn the skin of most animals?

Answer: Lesser pink flamingos

Few spectacles match the surreal beauty of a thousand tall, slender flamingos in delicate pink plumage gathering to feed in the shallow waters of a small lake in the center of Ngorongoro Crater. And that’s just a tiny fraction of the daily drama that plays out in this ancient volcanic caldera nestled in the highlands of northern Tanzania—often referred to as Africa’s "Garden of Eden."

That’s not just some puffed up marketing ploy, either. Unlike other safari destinations, Ngorongoro Crater is a completely self-contained wildlife haven. Across Africa, animals are always on the move between the wet and dry seasons in search of water and prey. That doesn’t happen in Ngorongoro. There is an abundance of water here, both from permanent springs that sustain the swamps, and streams and rivers fed by run-off water from the forests that line the crater’s rim. The animals stay because there’s no reason to leave.

The intimate place where some of Africa’s most magnificent wildlife species call home is approximately 10 miles wide with a surface of about 100 square miles. It’s ringed by steep walls that soar between a thousand and two thousand feet high. Protected by this unbroken natural barrier, the unique microclimate of the Eden-like crater floor sustains diverse habitats from open grasslands to acacia woodlands that teem with prey and predators engaging in nature’s timeless life and death dance.

And we’re talking lots of wildlife. A partial roll call of the approximately 25,000 animals packed into this relatively small area includes some 7,000 wildebeest, 4,000 zebra, 3,000 eland, 3,000 gazelle, 600 hyena, 250 bush elephants, 75 lions, and 26 critically endangered black rhinos. Oh, and if you’re thinking "only 75 lions? That doesn’t sound like all that many," guess again. Those 75 lions in eight prides living within the crater translates to 1 lion per every 2.3 square miles—the highest density of lions in the world.

One question that often pops up is "What about the ‘Big Five’"? In many of Africa’s popular game reserves you may get to spot Africa’s "Big Five"—lion, rhinoceros, leopard, elephant, and Cape buffalo—over the course of several days, and with a bit of luck on your side. Ngorongoro Crater can do better than that. It’s considered the only place in the world where you have an excellent chance of spotting the "Big Five"—all in one day.

But you could spend a month in Ngorongoro Crater and there’s one animal you won’t spot—giraffes. The walls of the caldera are simply too steep for them to walk down, so you’ll just have to look right outside the crater’s rim to find any of those tall boys.

So, what about all those pink flamingos?

Beautiful pink flamingos are just one out of more than 500 avian species living in and around Ngorongoro Crater—everything from swans and storks to plovers and cranes, along with raptors like eagles, buzzards, hawks, kites, and vultures. Although the flamingoes here include the "greater" species, the majority are "lesser" flamingos, two of the world’s six species of flamingo.

But there really isn’t much difference between the two flamingo species in Ngorongoro, anyway—it’s just that one can reach a height of five feet, the other up to three feet (you can probably figure out which is which). But what they lack in size, lesser flamingos make up in numbers. Extremely social avians, they thrive in large colonies—a thousand or more. And during the "wet" season, their numbers can rise into the hundreds of thousands.

A toxic pink paradise

Now you have to believe there must be thousands of sparkling clean water sources throughout East Africa. Why do you suppose flamingos choose to spend their lives wading in shallow lakes and estuaries that are so hypersaline they would poison most wildlife? Well, that’s the whole point. It keeps the predators away—and since they turn their heads upside down in the water to search for food, they get to eat in peace.

Flamingos have evolved to live in some of the planet’s most extreme wetlands, including caustic "soda lakes" that dot the Great Rift Valley. These super-alkaline waters give rise to immense blooms of microscopic blue-green algae that—while fatal to most animals—is consumed in massive quantities by flamingos.

The really weird thing is that for flamingos, the more toxic the water, the better. They have developed super tough skin and scales on their legs that prevent any burns. They can also drink water at near boiling point to collect freshwater from geysers and hot springs—and if no freshwater is available, flamingos can use glands in their heads that remove salt. Another favored habitat of lesser flamingos outside the crater is nearby Lake Natron, whose waters are so caustic they can strip away human skin (we’re guessing it’s not a popular swimming spot). The almost non-existent competition for food is why flamingos flock to these toxic wetlands in the hundreds of thousands.

You are what you eat—and how you eat

Like all flamingo species, the ones in Ngorongoro Crater aren’t born pink. A pigment in the blue-green algae they consume is what gives them their colorful pink plumage. Newly hatched flamingos have dark grey feathers, and then it takes several rounds of molting before they get their characteristic pink color.

And the flamingos here really are "upside down" eaters. When dinner time rolls around, it places its head upside down in the water and sweeps it from side-to-side, taking water and food into its mouth. Then, hair-like structures lining its beak act like a sieve to secure any food, while the tongue pushes any water and mud out. Bon appétit!

So, Africa’s "Garden of Eden" isn’t going too far in describing Ngorongoro Crater—which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many travelers fortunate enough to spend time here have another name for it: paradise on Earth.

Eight more fascinating facts about flamingos—and Ngorongoro Crater:

• The sound of one leg standing—Pink flamingos can stand on one foot for so long, they sometimes fall asleep. Research suggests that they engage in this delicate balancing act because standing on two legs uses more muscle power, making the one-legged stance less tiring. It may also help them stay warm. Since birds lose body heat through their limbs, standing on one leg while tucking the other under their belly helps limit the amount of heat that escapes through their legs and feet.


• Wait, the last person to walk on water—Flamingos don’t walk, they "run" on water. Their flippers help them run a short distance swiftly over the surface of the water before taking flight. And when they get airborne, they can travel a distance of close to 400 miles at a speed of 50-60 miles per hour.


• Plastic lawn flamingos may live longer—The average lifespan of flamingos in the wild is 20-30 years, longer than most wading birds. In controlled captivity such as zoos and aviaries, they often live well beyond 50 years. The oldest flamingo in captivity (at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia) was 83 when it was euthanized due to near blindness and acute arthritis.


• Have you no pride?—The majority of the lions in Ngorongoro Crater are born there, live their entire lives, and die there. The occasional male lion will roam into the crater and stay, but most move on. As a result, Ngorongoro is home to a bit of an incestuous lion population.


• Meet you at the omelet station—Egyptian vultures, which can be seen in Ngorongoro, know how to hold a stone in their beak and use it like a small hammer to crack open ostrich eggs.


• No flocking way!—If you thought a "murder of crows" was pretty cool, how about the collective noun for a gathering of elegant pink avians—referred to as a "flamboyance of flamingos."


• Cream of the crop—To feed their young, both male and female parents produce a fluid called "crop milk." Produced by glands in their crop, a muscular pouch in their throat, the red colored fluid is highly rich in fat and protein, which helps the young flamingos stay "in the pink" during this vulnerable growth stage.


• There’s the cool factor, too—Flamingos have a type of built-in sunglasses, a special membrane that allows them to cover their eyes and protect them from bright sunlight and glare.

Visit the Ngorongoro Crater and see these colorful bids for yourself during O.A.T.’s Kenya & Tanzania Safari: Masai Mara to the Serengeti adventure.