Experience Kenya

Lake Nakuru National Park (188 km²), created in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, near Nakuru Town. It is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores. The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingoes on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Cliff. Also of interest is an area of 188 km around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect Rothschild giraffes, black rhinos and white rhinos.

The park has recently been enlarged partly to provide the sanctuary for the black rhino. This undertaking has necessitated a fence – to keep out poachers rather than to restrict the movement of wildlife. The park marches for 12.1 km on the south eastern boundary with the Soysambu conservancy which represents a possible future expansion of habitat for the rhinos and the only remaining wildlife corridor to Lake Naivasha.

The park now (2009) has more than 25 black rhinoceros, one of the largest concentrations in the country, plus around 70 white rhinos. There are also a number of Rothschild’s giraffe, again translocated for safety from western Kenya beginning in 1977. Waterbuck are very common and both the Kenyan species are found here. Among the predators are lion, cheetah and leopard, the latter being seen much more frequently in recent times. The park also has large sized pythons that inhabit the dense woodlands, and can often be seen crossing the roads or dangling from trees.

As well as flamingos, there are myriad other bird species that inhabit the lake and the area surrounding it, such as African fish eagle, goliath heron, hamerkop, pied kingfisher and verreaux eagle.

Almost not the largest protected area, the park must be the one of the best for game viewing. The area is an extension of the famous Serengeti plains (Serengeti in Maasai means extended plains) just over the border in Tanzania. Animals dont recognise international boundaries so every year, in July and August, over a million wildebeest and thousand of Zebra migrated from the depleted grasslands of Tanzania to take advantange of the fresh grazing after the long rains in Kenya.

The lush grasslands interspersed with silver and russet leaved croton thickets, hillocks and forested river banks provides a good variety of habitats for wildlife. There is a small resident population of roan antelop,many bufallo as well as herds of Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, topi and impala. Predators include large prides of lions, a fair number of cheetah and leopards, spotted hyaenas and the silver-or black-backed jackal, African wild dog.

There are over 450 recorded species of birds in this reserve, including the large orange-buff pel’s fishing owl andkori bustards.

The best time of year to visit the reserve is from July to October when the migration is at its peak and as many as two million wildebeest and 500, 000 zebra are grazing, fighting, courting and mating.

Lake Amboseli, from which the park takes it’s name, is dry lake, some 10 by 16 kms and is only flooded during the rare occasions where there are heavy rains. The lake lying at the roof of Africa’s highest mountain.

Clouds of soda dust which blow up from the perennially dry bed of the pleistocene, Lake Amboseli provide a stark contrast to the lush vegetation of the swamps which form the heart of the ecosystem. The swamps are fed by the melting snow of Kilimanjaro which percolate through porous volcanic soil, forming underground streams which rise close to the surface in the ancient lake basin.

The park is famous for its tranqual beauty and easly approachable wildlife. The park is populated by elephants and it is also one of the longest studied and the best for reserchers. Other common species found in the park are lions, bufallo, zebra, giraffe, gazelle, hippos live in the open water and over 400 different birds can be found in the park, include water fowls and 12 species of heron.