Lake Eyasi lies at the foot of the Rift Valley’s western wall, south-west of Karatu and below the Ngorongoro highlands. It is a shallow soda lake that swells in the rains and can shrink to a white salt flat in the dry months. The country around it is hot, dry bush studded with baobabs and palms.
This is the homeland of the Hadzabe (Hadza), a people numbering only around a thousand, some of whom still live largely by hunting with bows and gathering honey, tubers and fruit. Their language, full of click consonants, is unrelated to any other known tongue. Nearby live the Datoga, cattle herders famous as blacksmiths.
Top things to do: Lake Eyasi
Spend a morning with the Hadzabe
Visits start around dawn, when a group of hunters sets off into the bush. You follow at their pace, watch fire being made by hand, and usually try a bow. Go with a local guide from the Eyasi community, who translates and makes sure the camp is paid properly.
Visit Datoga blacksmiths
Datoga smiths melt down scrap metal over charcoal to make arrowheads, knives and brass bracelets, using hand-pumped bellows. Their arrowheads are traded to the Hadzabe — a relationship that long predates tourism.
The lake and its birds
When there is water, the shore attracts flamingos, pelicans, storks and waders. Sunset over the lake with the escarpment behind is the best time to be there.
How to get to Lake Eyasi
- From Karatu a rough, dusty track leads to the lake in about 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Most people stay one night near the lake so they can join the Hadzabe at dawn; a very early day trip from Karatu is possible.
- Eyasi is usually added to a multi-day safari between Lake Manyara or Tarangire and the crater.
Insider tips
- Think about how you visit. Ask before taking photographs, do not hand out sweets or money to individuals, and choose an operator who pays the community an agreed fee.
- What you see is real life adapted for visitors, not a performance to be directed. Keep the group small and follow the guide’s lead.
- It is much hotter here than in the highlands; carry plenty of water.
Best tours & safaris: Lake Eyasi
These experiences are the easiest way to see Lake Eyasi:
Culture & safari from €1381 Arusha: 3-Day Lake Eyasi Trip and Safari
A three-day trip that pairs game viewing with Lake Eyasi, where visitors can spend a morning with Hadzabe hunter-gatherers and visit Datoga blacksmiths. A newer listing with few reviews so far — ask how the community visit is arranged and paid for.
- Time with the Hadzabe and Datoga at Lake Eyasi
- Combined with game viewing
- New listing — few reviews yet
Multi-day safari from €1015 Tanzania: 5-Day Safari to Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and Manyara
Five days around the parks closest to Arusha — Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater — without the long haul to the Serengeti. Shorter drives mean more time watching animals. This is a newer listing with few or no reviews yet, so read the itinerary closely.
- Three parks at an unhurried pace
- Shorter drives than a Serengeti loop
- New listing — few reviews yet
