Safari in Kenia - Lake Nakuru

Home Nairobi Treetops Lake Nakuru Masai Mara Masai Tribe Kenya				Lake Nakuru After a wonderful experience at the Treetops we left Aberdares, and went to the region of the seven lakes (4 fresh water and 3 salt water). Our destination was the famous lake Nakuru, were we staid at the wonderful Lake Nakuru Lodge, saw the beautiful flamingos and went on an exciting search for leopards. Basic Facts - Details
		Next
	Rafael e flamingos	Flamingos in the rain	Pelican	Tribe	Tribe people
	Tribe people	Waterfall	Rafael e Edgar	Hotel	Hotel
	in front of the room	Room	Monkey in the Hotel	Rhinos	Rhinos
	Buffalos	Zebra	Zebra	Zebra	Leopard
	Leopard	Leopard	Giraffe	Giraffe	Impala
		Antelopes	Antelopes	Antelopes	Flamingos

Basic Facts
Size: 188 sq kms
Province: Rift Valley
District: Nakuru
Geographical Location:
Climate: Ranges from Cold, Hot and Humid, Hot and Dry
Altitude: 1,756m
Vegetation: Wooded and bushy grassland with a wide ecological diversity with characteristic habitats that range from the lake waters to the escarpment and ridges. Each habitat has various associations of vegetation types with related mammal communities
Fauna:
     Mamals: Aquatic animals include the hippo, clawless otter. Shoreline species include waterbuck, Bolors reedbuck, plains zebra and warthog. Woodlands and the forests provided habitat for black rhino, white rhino and buffalo. (the latter two occasionally occupy the grasslands) leopard, lion, Rothchids giraffe and the white and black colobus monkey. In the bushlands are eland, steinboks impala, Chandiers reedbuck and the dik dik while the rock hyrax and klipspringer occupy the cliffs and the escarpment.
     Reptiles :Python, Monitor Lizard, Tilapia.
Bird Life: Spectacular aquatic and terrestrial birdlife with 400 species including over one million flamingos.
Visitor Facilities: Several lodges and campsites.

Details
Nakuru in Kiswahili means "Waterbuck Haven". Lake Nakuru National Park, close to Nakuru town, was established in 1961. It started off small, only encompassing the famous lake and the surrounding mountainous vicinity. Now it has been extended to include a large part of the savannahs. Currently, the fenced Lake Nakuru National Park covers around 90 square miles. It has unusual but beautiful vegetation. The forest vegetation is covered with Euphorbia, tall cactus like trees and acacia woodland. The forest region is a host to over 400 migratory bird species from around the world.

Lake Nakuru National Park can be accessed via three gates: Main, Lanet and Nderit. The park's lake is internationally known for its Lesser and Greater Flamingos. Ornithologists often describe Lake Nakuru as "the most fabulous bird spectacle in the world". The Lesser flamingo can be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill and pink plumage unlike the greater, which has a bill with a black tip. The Lesser flamingos are ones that are commonly pictured in documentaries mainly because they are large in number. There are estimated to be over a million Lesser flamingos. These numbers are on a steady increase again. The numbers had been reduced due to the El-Nino weather pattern that flooded the lake, and changed the alkaline concentration. The flamingos feed on algae, created from their droppings mixing in the warm alkaline waters, and plankton. Lake Nakuru National Park is also shared with the white pelicans and the ever-snorting hippos.

Other wildlife in the Lake Nakuru National Park include: The famous Black and White rhinos. The Black rhinos have been slowly multiplying over the years, and are well protected. Thanks partially to the government of South Africa. Lake Nakuru National Park also boasts an increase in White rhinos. There are plenty of waterbucks, impalas, dik-diks, grants gazelles, lions and leopards. In 1977, the Rothschild giraffe was introduced to the Park. The park also has large sized python snakes that inhabit the dense woodlands, and can often be seen crossing the roads or dangling from trees.

Due credit should be given to the World Wide Fund For Nature organization and local Kenyan wildlife foundations for supporting the preservation of animals, protection of the rhinoceros population and research into the effects of surrounding communities and industries. Lake Nakuru National Park is the only park in Kenya that is completely fenced.

The Great Rift Valley, mostly known in Kenya as the East African Rift Valley, was formed between 2 and 7 million years ago. It is the longest rift on the surface of the earth. The Rift Valley starts all the way from Jordan, Middle-East, and runs through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, Malawi, and ends near the coastal town of Solada in Mozambique. The amazing quality about the Rift Valley is that once it reaches the Kenyan border, it diverges into two rifts, which later converge near Lake Rukwa in southern Tanzania.

The Great Rift Valley is approximately 4,000 miles long and 35 miles wide. It was formed due to geological tension in the earth's crust that caused a deep depression, while probably forcing the sides upwards. The floor of the valley is normally below sea level. In Kenya, the Rift Valley gave rise to many lakes that have become a habitat for diverse wildlife. The walls of the Rift Valley are called escarpments; the famous escarpments of Kenya being the Mau Escarpment. The Mau escarpments are famous for their height, which rise over 8500 feet.

To the surprise of many tourists, geological movements still occur in the Rift Valley. In 2000, the British media, BBC, reported that Mount Ken ya had reduced in height. Both Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro are almost adjacent to the Rift Valley.