Pink Lake is spectacular. You should go! We were inspired by a few Instagram models to try and go for a swim.
After checking with a local whether they would recommend it, they laughed saying they wouldn’t. We were still to determined to check it out.
Fast forward an hour, we find Felix half way across the crusty outer layer and getting sucked into the soft ground. Andrew starts running to help him, getting even more stuck.
Turns out that under the pink water, there was a thick crusty salt layer that breaks like the top of crème brulee and beneath that is a thick black mud that pulls you down like the stickiest gooey-est science project. So as you fight the mud, the salty plates scratch you all up and spit salt into your wounds.
Not the morning we envisioned and now Felix has an aversion to all things pink. I’m not sure if all pink lakes are like this, but I no longer wish to swim in one and am again reminded not to believe everything I see online haha!
For all those wondering why the Pink Lake is pink – it’s the result of high salinity combined with the presence of a salt-loving algae species known as Dunaliella salina and pink bacteria known as halobacteria. There you have it! A definite must see, but maybe skip the dip.
