What is the creepiest and most terrifying place in the world?

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One of the creepier places, but also oddly charming, is Lake Natron in Tanzania.

Water flows into Lake Natron, but can only escape by evaporation. As a result, the water is very high in precipitates. Unlike other salt lakes, like the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake in Utah, Lake Natron is highly alkaline due to high levels of sodium carbonate (soda ash) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), with a pH value of upto 12 - similar to ammonia. The water temperature can reach 60 deg C (140 deg F).

Now, bear in mind that sodium carbonate and hot water are used to strip flesh from bones in taxidermy, and you’ll understand that Lake Natron is pretty inimical to life. Only a handful of species can survive there - mainly extremophile microorganisms, and those that feed on them. And the rest?

They’re turned to stone (not really but):

Above images from Nick Brandt: Photography

There is a slight cheat in these images: Nick Brandt found these birds in Lake Natron, and put them on branches and rocks for photography. However, the position of their bodies was not interfered with - this is how they died, as if about to sing or take flight. Though I’m pretty sure the bat picture is upside down.

Creepy. And amazing.