Lake Rukwa

Rukwa lies in an arm of the western rift with no outlet, so everything flowing in stays in and evaporates, leaving the water alkaline and salty. The lake lies at about 800 metres, midway between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi, and is the third largest body of inland water in the country. Its level swings enormously between wet and dry years - in 1929 it was only about 48 kilometres long - and it has at times split into two lakes and at others joined into one long body over a hundred and eighty kilometres. Pelicans, flamingos and storks use the shallows in numbers, crocodiles are abundant, and fish populations boom and crash with the water.

The landscape

• The changing level - a lake that splits and rejoins as the water rises and falls.
• The waterbirds - pelicans, flamingos and storks working the alkaline shallows.
• The crocodiles - a large population along the shoreline and river mouths.
• The rift setting - escarpments rising on either side of the basin.

When to go

June to October for the roads and for concentrations of birds on the shrinking water. The wet season makes access very difficult. Water levels vary greatly between years.

Good to know

There is essentially no visitor infrastructure and no accommodation at the lake. Roads in the basin are poor and often impassable when wet. Crocodiles make the shoreline dangerous.

Nearby

Katavi is northwest, and Mbeya is southeast.

Key facts