Searching for Pink Lakes in Camargue

And the mythical wild horses and flamingos

You know when you build up something in your mind so much, that when it finally happens, you are left disappointed. It didn’t quite measure up to the illusion you had been carrying around with you.

That’s what happened to me in Camargue, France.

It was great to get out of the towns and cities and spend some time in a rural area and a national park — lots of wilderness and farms. I miss that, since I live in the center of a city that has given urban sprawl a whole new meaning.

We headed straight for Aigues-Mortes, the old fortified city which is right at the edge of the marshlands — the real reason we are here.

This is where the Crusades began. The walled city stands like a sentinel at the entrance to the marshes, which are a key location for salt production, that has been lucrative for the entire region.

A large salt extraction facility covers more than 10 thousand hectares. Water is pumped from pond to pond as the saltwater crystalizes. Small mountains of salt reflect on the water around the production and storage areas. The saltwater lakes or Salins are left pink by microorganisms that feed on a specific type of algae. Flamingos dine on the tiny delicacies, which turn the birds pink.

There are apparently different times of the year when the color is even more impressive.

The Salins du Midi salt company runs tours of the site. We decided to hike through the area on our own, without a tour guide or without taking the mini tourist train that gives a guided tour of the ponds and the salt production facility. We still had to pay a few euros to get in through the gate. A tour probably would have been more helpful. We were only told to keep walking until we see a Do Not Enter sign — a white line through a red circle.

After walking along a path in the sweltering sun, the only thing we were seeing were some marshy ponds. We asked a couple who were coming the other way, “Ou est la rose?” Where is the pink? They pointed behind them, “La” (there). Okay, so we would keep going.

We kept scanning up ahead for the pink lake to appear. Finally, we saw a pink tinge to the water, and then closer to the shore the color became more vibrant.

There were rocks coated in salt crystals. These would be harvested and sold as famous Camargue sea salt which is then made into different products.

As we continued to walk toward the salt mine and the mountains of salt, the heat became too much since there was no place to get even a bit of shade.

Just when we had enough and were ready to turn back, we saw a bunch of signs and, of course, the one knocked over was the one we were supposed to be looking for.

As we headed back to the entrance and our car, I wondered where all the wildlife was. This region is a sanctuary for migrating birds and since this was mid-September, some migration should have been happening. We saw a muskrat, a bunch of gulls, and some other indistinguishable birds on wires (possibly starlings???) but nothing that wowed us.

We did not see any of the famous Flamingos, until we were speeding down the road and saw a small flock in the water, just off the side of the road. We were going too fast to stop or turn around.

We also didn’t see the famous wild Camargue horses, smaller, white horses which have famously been captured galloping through the surf with the wind blowing their long manes. For those spectacular images, check out this article by Janice Macdonald, who encouraged me and offered some helpful advice for my journey. Thanks Janice.

Before leaving the salt marshes we stopped in at the gift shop that was just closing up, and were overwhelmed by all the salt products available. I bought a couple of small jars for souvenirs.

If I go back that way again, I would spend at least a few days there, exploring more of the region and enjoying the slower, laid-back lifestyle.

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