Senegal's Lake Retba - also called Lac Rose, in French, or the Pink Lake - is a famous tourist attraction.
Located some 30km (18 miles) north-east of the capital, Dakar, the lake is known for its bright pink colour - especially in the dry season - said to be caused by an alga that produces a red pigment.
Its high salt content also allows tourists to float easily but they are not the only ones to take interest in the site.
An estimated 3,000 salt miners collect the precious commodity which is exported all over the region, as BBC Africa's Laeila Adjovi reports.
From BBC News
Lake Retba
It is so named for its pink waters, caused by Dunaliella salina algae in the water that produce a red pigment that uses sunlight to create more energy, turning the waters pink. The color is particularly visible during the dry season. The lake is also known for its high salt content, which, like that of the Dead Sea, allows people to float easily. The lake also has a small salt collecting industry and was often the finishing point of the Dakar Rally, before it moved to South America in 2009.
Many salt collectors work 6–7 hours a day in the lake, which has a salt content of up to 40% in some areas.] In order to protect their skin, they rub their skin with "Beurre de Karité" (shea butter, produced from shea nuts obtained from the Shea nut tree), which is an emollient used to avoid tissue damage.
Lake Retba is under consideration by the World Heritage Committee for inclusion as a World Heritage Site.
in Wikipedia
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
ReplyDeleteI think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is wonderful
blog. A great read. I'll certainly be back.
Here is my blog: ElzaKVandevort