Lake Chala Tour - Elianne Expeditions

Day Trip

Lake Chala Tour

Area to Visit

Lake Chala

Your Dream African Safari Specialist

Overview

Eight kilometres from Taveta on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, the lake is impossibly clear with steep crater walls.

Lake Chala is a beautiful area located on the western side of Kilimanjaro at the Kenya/Tanzanian border, about 2.5 hour drive from Moshi. The lake is filled and drained by underground streams. Located near the slopes of Kilimanjaro, the lake is amazingly clear with steep crater walls. It is the deepest inland water body in Africa with the depth of about 3km.

Due to the enormous depth boating is recommended. Visitors can hike at the lake and enjoy the beautiful view and fresh air. Aside from plenty of fish, Monitor lizards, baboons, monkeys and common snakes may be seen by chance.

We leave Moshi town early in the morning and heard towards Himo town using Taifa road which is the main route. It’s approximatelly 30 kms from Moshi town to the small town of Himo. From Himo we will head 10km towards Taveta border (Kenyan and Tanzanian Boarder).

The route is Tarmac with much reduced traffic. just a few meters before the border we will go left towards the route that leads to Lake Chala. It is 14 kms to the lake from here. The route is rough with gravel and rocks, and is dusty all the way to the lake.

At approximately 6 to 7 kms to the lake, the vegetation changes to evergreen forest that is host to many mammals like Elephant, Primates, Antelopes and different species of birds. It’s 4 hrs from Moshi town to Lake Chala. On reaching the lake we will have a picnic lunch, then we will rest for some time before decending down to the Lake.

At the lake you can have a boat ride around the lake. After spending some time here we will go back to our vehicle and return to Moshi. Overnight camping at the lake is an option, allowing a return back to Moshi the following day. Many clients will add in a waterfall day trip on day 2 if they choose this option.