Image: ReutersThe pink hue of Western Senegal’s Lac Rose once drew thousands of tourists from all over the world to its salt-laden shores.
Everything changed last September when torrential rains hit the nearby capital Dakar and swept flood waters towards the lake, tearing a wide channel in its bank. “It was the pink colour that brought the visitors,” says student Abdou Dieng, whose small campsite remains under water. “The over-salinisation of the water also allowed visitors to float on top of the lake like in the Dead Sea. Currently, we have no customers.”