Fabulous one-day itineraries designed exclusively for SilverKris readers.
Paris
Milan
Find flights or check-in online at www.singaporeair.com
Content accurate at time of publication
01 May 2011
Lake Retba, also known as Le Lac Rose (Rose Lake in French), is a strange and beautiful sight to behold. Depending on the time of day, the lake changes colour from a light purple to a deep scarlet pink. The unusual colouring of the water is caused by harmless halophilic bacteria that thrive in the lake’s high-salinity environment.
Covering an area of about 3 sq km, the lake is located about 35km north-east of Senegal’s capital Dakar. Since the 1970s, local residents have been mining Lake Retba for its salt, which they use mainly to preserve fish. Waist-deep in water, the men scrape the bottom of the lake to harvest this universally useful mineral which they collect in baskets in their wooden canoes. The salt is then taken back to shore where it is sectioned into small mounds. Dotted along the lake’s shore, these pristine white hills of salt create an arresting contrast against the pink of the lake. For protection from the extreme salinity of the water, the workers slather their bodies with rich shea butter, a moisturising emollient.
Besides being a tourist attraction, Lake Retba is also well known for having been the end point of the famed Dakar Rally, which has since been relocated to South America. Currently, the lake is awaiting a decision on possible UNESCO World Heritage Site classification.
PHOTO MASSIMO BREGA, THE LIGHTHOUSE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
leave a comment