Lake Lanoto'o

Lake Lanoto'o sits in a crater near the middle of Upolu at around seven hundred metres, its water an opaque green from algae and its shore ringed by forest with no outlet. It is a Ramsar site. Goldfish, introduced long ago, live in it in numbers. The walk in from the Cross Island Road takes around an hour through forest and plantation and is muddy in almost any conditions, with the route poorly marked.

Background

Lanoto'o is the largest lake in Samoa, and the national park named after it surrounds the crater. The lake is 400 metres long, 17 metres deep at most and covers 11 hectares, with water at about 27.8 °C and a pH of 5.72, while the crater formed somewhere from 100,000 to 1 million years ago. Sediment cores from its bed help date when people first settled Upolu and Polynesia, and they record past climate. The Pacific black duck and the spotless crake live here, and the goldfish were brought in during the German colonial period.

Source: Wikipedia, "Lake Lanoto'o"

The landscape

• The green water - opaque colour from algae in a crater with no outlet.
• The goldfish - the introduced population living in the lake.
• The crater rim - forest running down to the water on all sides.
• The forest walk - the hour-long muddy route in from the road.

When to go

May to October is the drier season and the walk is more manageable. The wet season makes the track a mudslide. Cloud sits on the crater often.

Before you go

The track is muddy and poorly marked and people get lost; a guide is worth taking. The lake is opaque and unappealing to swim in. There are no facilities at any point.

Nearby

The Baha'i temple is on the Cross Island Road, and Apia is north.

Key facts