Lake Eyasi Guide: the Hadzabe, the Datoga and a Soda Lake Below the Rift Valley Wall

Tanzania Beyond the Parks

Lake Eyasi is a long, shallow soda lake on the floor of the Rift Valley, south-west of the Ngorongoro highlands. It fills in the rains and shrinks back to salt flats in the dry months, with the escarpment rising behind it and acacia and baobab country all around.

People come here for the people. The area around the village of Mang'ola is home to the Hadzabe, among the last hunter-gatherers in Africa, and to the Datoga, pastoralists and skilled metalworkers. After days of game drives, it adds a human chapter to a northern Tanzania safari.

Warriors of Africa Safari arranges Lake Eyasi visits with local guides from the communities, so the experience is respectful, unhurried and of real benefit to the people you meet.

A Morning With the Hadzabe and the Datoga

A visit usually starts at dawn, when the Hadzabe go out to hunt and forage. You may walk with a small group through the bush, watch them make fire by hand, track, and see how bows and arrows are made and used. You follow; you are not on a stage.

Nearby, Datoga families herd cattle, grind grain and work metal, turning scrap into arrowheads and jewellery. Seeing both communities shows two very different ways of living in the same landscape.

KEY FEATURES

The communities, their skills and the lake: what you come to Lake Eyasi for.

THE HADZABE

Among the last hunter-gatherers in Africa

BOWS AND ARROWS

Hunting skills passed down for generations

THE DATOGA

Pastoralists, herders and metalworkers

THE LAKE

A seasonal soda lake below the Rift Valley wall

How to Reach Lake Eyasi

Lake Eyasi is about an hour and a half by road from Karatu, down a rough track off the highlands, and roughly four to five hours from Arusha. Most guests visit after Ngorongoro Crater, sleep near the lake, and join the communities at dawn the next morning.

The valley floor is hot. Early starts, a hat, sun cream and plenty of water make the morning much easier.

Staying at Lake Eyasi

Sleeping by the lake means you can be with the communities at first light. This is the lodge we use, with its own gallery and facts.

Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge

Lodge

Cottages on a slope above the lake near Mang'ola, each with a veranda, plus a pool and an upper deck.

See our 10-Day Great Migration, Culture and Lake Natron Safari for a full itinerary with a night at Lake Eyasi.

Best Time to Visit Lake Eyasi

You can visit all year. June to October is dry and cooler, the best time for walking with the Hadzabe. The rains, from March to May, make the tracks harder but bring green country and fewer visitors.

Combining Lake Eyasi with Other Destinations

Lake Eyasi sits a short drive from Karatu and Ngorongoro, so it slots neatly between the crater and Tarangire or Lake Manyara.

Lake Eyasi Gallery Collection

Drag and explore pictures of the lake and the communities around it

Lake Eyasi at sunset

The sun setting over the lake and the Rift Valley wall

Making fire

Fire made by hand, the traditional way

In the rock shelter

A group gathered round a fire under the rocks

Bows and arrows

Hunting bows and arrows hung against a tree

Milking time

A woman milking a cow in a Datoga homestead

Grinding grain

Grain ground on a stone in a Datoga home

Lodge cottages

Cottages in the garden at Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge

Visiting Respectfully

These are people's homes and ways of life, not a performance. The best visits are the ones where you listen more than you look.