The Nakuru area lies within the inner graben of the central Kenya rift valley. Lake Nakuru’s graben lies between LionHill Volcano and the Mau Escarpment, the west wall of the Rift Valley, the base of which lies within the south-west corner of the area. Lake Nakuru is a shallow pan which never fills to a depth of more than a few feet but the level does fluctuate. Nakuru is characterised by its graben, the shallow alkaline lake which attracts many flamingoes and a huge fever tree forest.

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir

The Rhino Sanctuary in Lake Nakuru National Park was the first Rhino sanctuary in Kenya and is currently home to the largest number of black rhinos in the country. Currently the rhino sanctuary in Lake Nakuru National Park boasts 150 rhinos with 80% being white rhinos and 20% being black rhinos. The rhino sanctuary was established in 1984 when the first two rhinos were introduced to the lake Nakuru National Park. This national park was chosen as the first Rhino sanctuary as it was already a bird sanctuary and it had the needed land for the rhinos. The lake area provides the water the rhinos need every day and the vegetation in the park is also suitable for both the white and black rhinos.

The Fever trees in this forest are huge. The fever tree is the only tree species on earth whose bark performs the photosynthesis process instead of its leaves. Fever trees grow incredibly fast – they can reach a height of over 25m and grow in height approximately 1.5m annually. The Rift Valley forms the eastern distribution limit of the Defassa Waterbuck, which occur in grassland and open forest and scrub.

A DeFassa waterbuck female and her calf foraging in thick grass in the forest understory. The species is a grazer and always found where there is water nearby. It is classified by IUCN as Near Threatened, with a total population of about 95 000.

According to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, the latest taxonomy study reveals that there are four distinct species; the Masai, Northern, Reticulated and Southern Giraffe. The Rothschild’s Giraffe is one subspecies of the Northern Giraffe. All four giraffe species and their subspecies live in geographically distinct areas throughout Africa.

The Rothschild’s Giraffe is the tallest of the four distinct species and five subspecies. It has a distinct colouring and coat patterning. Each giraffe has a different pattern just like humans have distinct fingerprints. This species of giraffe is paler, and has orange-brown patches which are less jagged in shape. This giraffe has no markings on its lower legs and under belly, which are predominately creamy white. The Rothschild’s Giraffe stands in stark contrast to the dark greens and yellows of the fever tree forest. The next image gives a sense of how tall the trees are in the fever tree forest south of Lake Nakuru. Today, fewer than 3 000 Rothschild’s giraffes are left in Africa, with about 800 in Kenya.

“I feel a great regard for trees; they represent age and beauty and the miracles of life and growth.” – Louise Dickinson Rich

The Rothschild’s Giraffe is the only giraffe species to be born with five ossicones. Two of these are the larger and more obvious ones at the top of the head, which are common to all giraffes. The third ossicone can often be seen in the center of the giraffe’s forehead, and the other two are behind each ear. This species of giraffe is also taller than many other populations, measuring up to 5.88 metres or 19.3 feet tall. Males are larger than females and feed on different parts of the trees. Rothschild’s Giraffe feed on leaves, flowers, seedpods, and fruits in areas where the savanna floor is salty or full of minerals.

There are small open patches in the forest which provide room for grazers such as this male impala.

“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” ~Hilaire Belloc

Fever tree forests vary in density throughout the southern section of the park with some areas which are less dense allowing the sunlight to reach the ground. Fever trees are indigenous to southern and eastern Africa. Their preferred habitat is warm and humid conditions with access to plenty of water.

I absolutely love the feeling of driving slowly through the forest. It is cool and quiet but for bird calls. It is dense, and there is a bluish hue among the trees in the early morning and these areas are just bursting with life.

“Consider a tree for a moment. As beautiful as trees are to look at, we don’t see what goes on underground – as they grow roots. Trees must develop deep roots in order to grow strong and produce their beauty. But we don’t see the roots. We just see and enjoy the beauty. In much the same way, what goes on inside of us is like the roots of a tree.” – Joyce Meyer

The Eastern Black and White Colobus monkey is the most arboreal of all African monkeys. The only other place I have seen them has been along the Grumeti river in the western corridor of the Serengeti. They have beautiful black fur which contrasts with the long white mantle, whiskers, bushy tail, and beard around their black face. These monkeys are territorial and live in groups of as many as fifteen individuals.

“The wandering photographer sees the same show that everyone else sees. He, however, stops to watch it.” ~ Edouard Boubat

The name “Colobus” is derived from the Greek word for “mutilated,” because unlike other monkeys, Colobus monkeys do not have thumbs. There are two types of Colobus monkeys, the Angolan and the Eastern Black and White species. These Colobus monkeys are herbivores, eating leaves, fruit, flowers lichen and bark and have a ruminant-like digestive system.

Our sighting of this elusive very shy leopardess was down purely to good guiding from Mike Laubscher. We were driving on the road along the LionHill side of the lake. Mike heard Vervet monkeys’ alarm calling and they were persistent suggesting that the threat was still close to them. We found another side road closer to the Vervet monkeys and that gave us an opportunity to see which way the Vervets were looking. Mike scoured the fever trees with his binoculars in the direction the Vervets were looking and after about a quarter of an hour he spotted this leopardess lying on the large yellow bough of a huge fever tree. The leopardess was lying in deep shade so was very difficult to see her initially.

Leopards are notoriously secretive in this forest environment and given the colour of their coats against the fever tree branches it can be extremely difficult to see one. Once we had a fix on her she continued lying on the bough for another few minutes before deciding to descend the tree to get out of view from all concerned.

We found a pair of Bushbuck foraging in the thick verdant understory. They were very shy and as soon as they saw us on the road, which cut through the forest, they bolted for deeper cover. The Bushbuck’s diet consists mainly of leaves, herbs, twigs and flowers of different plant types and as a browser it seldom consumes grass. The Bushbuck is the only non-territorial and solitary African antelope.

Fever tree haves a very shallow root system so you will see many fallen tree trunks in the forest. This is an alluring feature for photographers because there is always the possibility of a raptor or a leopard or lion on the fallen tree trunk.

“If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything.” ~ Alan Watts

We got out of the vehicle and had a cup of coffee near this large fallen Fever tree trunk. It was absolutely beautiful. The understory is not easy to walk through and there are plenty of stinging nettles, which we soon discovered.

I was fortunate enough to spend ten days travelling around the Amboseli and Lake Nakuru National Parks with Mike Laubscher, a guide from Wild Eye. A big thank you to Mike for a fun and productive trip showing us around two fascinating and very different national parks in Kenya. A big thank you also to guide Jimmy who drove us around Amboseli and who has the most incredible eyesight and ability to predict the animal’s movement which enabled us to get into good photographic positions. Also to Sammy for driving us up to Lake Nakuru from Nairobi and back which was quite an exercise in its own right and for showing us around Lake Nakuru National Park and giving us some memorable sightings of rare mammals and birds. The guides from Wild Eye made a wonderful team without which we not have seen and experienced nearly as much as we did – thank you!

“I know not how I may seem to others, but to myself I am but a small child wandering upon the vast shores of knowledge, every now and then finding a small bright pebble to content myself with” ~ Plato

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Lake Nakuru National Park is full of surprises for a first time visitor.

“Wandering the rift takes you through ancient times, travelling into unfamilar places which open your sense to timelessness and wonder.” ~ Mike Haworth

We saw lion and a leopard in Lake Nakuru National Park. We never saw hyaena or even heard them. The forest environment seems to be ideal for servals, civets and genets, but being nocturnal and having to be back in camp by 18h00 we never got to see any of these species.

“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every day, and they’re absolute free. Don’t miss any of them.” ~ Jo Walton

There is an abundance of grazers varying from buffalo, Rothchild’s giraffe to Debussa waterbuck, eland and zebra. There are also the smaller antelope such as bushbuck and impala but we never saw any duiker. The next image is of two old buffalo bulls, we call them “dagga boys” because they are often covered in mud and their bosses are caked with mud after a good wallow in a mud pool. These two old boys were lying down under the shade of a tree in the late morning.

We found a lioness with her three cubs near a buffalo kill on our first morning on the southbound section of the ring road south of the lake. The next day we found two male lions in the south west section of the park. They were traversing an open grassland to find shade under a small tree, much like the buffaloes.

“Wherever you go becomes part of you somehow.” ~ Anita Desai

When one lion is walking up to another one, either it is moving in to greet the other lion or there will be a fight. On this occasion, the first male lion lying in the shade of a small tree was greeted with head rubbing by the approaching male. Many of the cats were collared in the park- a sign of the times. There is much research underway and it certainly makes it easier to find them in this well forested park.

After the initial greeting the second male lay down in the shade next to his coalition partner. The male on the left of the image looked to be older than the male on the right judging from the darkness of his mane. Interestingly, both males were not “flat cats” but remained alert and sitting up while we were watching them in mid-morning. Something must have had their attention which we had not seen, heard or smelt.

The first male to lie down in the shade looked to be around five years old judging from the length and colour of his mane and the condition of his teeth. He had flies all over him which did not seem to bother him much – and they were probably the stinging type!

You can see from the condition of his ears that he must have been in some tangles but his teeth were in good condition.

” Life is etched in that face. A male lion’s journey is etched with scars and torn ears. His eyes remain steady, his heart strong. He has earned his place”~ Mike Haworth

We travelled along the same road the next day only to find this scene. A male and female lion together, probably in their mating phase, then, buffalo emerged from the gloom of the forest and began chasing them into the grassland. The lions seemed to prefer to operate along the edge of the forest during the day, probably because of the abundance of shade.

This buffalo bull was not going to tolerate the mating pair anywhere near his herd and continued to push them away from the herd which was just inside the edge of the forest.

“Choose you battles wisely. After all, life is not measured by how many times you stood up to fight. Life is too short to spend it on warring. Fight only the most, most important ones and let the rest go.” ~ C. Joybell

There are many buffalo in Lake Nakuru National Park. They seem to enjoy the forest and the wet conditions around the lake.

The next image is of two adult but young buffalo bulls mock fighting. They were just pushing each other around with their bosses, nothing serious. When their bosses connected it made quite a cracking sound.

“The main difference between play and playfulness is that play is an activity while playfulness is an attitude.” ~ Miguel Sicart

On our last day in the park, it was early morning and we were travelling along the southern ring road when we came upon this lioness walking along the road. As she wandered along the road she would sometimes stop and listen and at other times detour to the embankment next to the road to investigate a sound or a smell. After about five minutes of following her she heard buffalo on the Lion Hill ridge. Immediately she crossed the road and started to work her way up the ridge to get into a better position to assess the meal potential. As time passed the herd moved down the ridge and in doing so began to split up. This calf was separated from its mother, an opportunity which was not missed by the lioness. For some inexplicable reason she did not immediately attack the calf despite getting within approximately 20 metres of it.

The calf stopped, seeming to sense that the lioness was close by. We held our breath thinking we were about to witness an ambush. A few seconds passed the the calf moved on down the ridge and to our surprise the lioness just sat and watched the calf walk away.

The lioness did not attack the buffalo calf. We did not expect her to abandon the hunt but we did not also see what she saw and could not possible judge whether the odds were in her favour. The calf lived to see another day and we were left with a little magic.

Nakuru was not a place I expected to see such interactions with buffalo and lion. I am reminded every time I go into the bush to leave my perceived ideas back in camp. Our limited ideas about the dynamics in the bush only serve to remind us of how much we still have to learn and understand.

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” ~ Neil Armstrong

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

Lake Nakuru is a most unusual place in Africa. Eclectic in every way. Its character starts with a town directly on the outskirts of the national park. Then paradoxically, it is sanctuary to several endangered mammal species. It is located in one of the most unusual geological structures in Africa and its forest is home to giants.

“Most things seem to whisper in a forest. It is as if there are beings watching and listening. It is moody and alive. Giants stand as sentinels and guardians of the sanctity of the wildlife at their feet and in their arms. “ ~ Mike Haworth

The forest is moody, misty and has a blue hue in the early morning affected by the moisture during the long rains. The forest is home to wonderful array of birdlife.

“In wilderness is the preservation of the world.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

I was surprised to see a few pairs of Southern Ground Hornbills in the fever tree forest. This pair were initially calling quietly to each other, not the booming pre-dawn calls you hear across the African bushveld,  but gentle dulcet tones. After a period of gentle calling they mated, not on the ground but high up in a large fever tree. Each time the female called the male’s neck feathers rose as you can see in the next image.

Eventually after mating and continuing to call quietly to each other for quite a while they relaxed and started preening.

We saw many Long Crested Eagles. They are perch hunters and feed mainly on rodents. We never saw a Long Crested Eagle flying in the forest but it would have been easily recognisable with the white windows near its, wing tips which are diagnostic. When flying you will often see the tail spread which also reveals the white barring on the tail.

In April, we saw numerous Augur Buzzards in the forest. The next image is of a dark morph Augur Buzzard. An adult Augur Buzzard has dark back feathers which vary from black to dark brown with flecks of white and a white belly and it has characteristic rustic coloured tail feathers. Like all buzzards its legs are not feathered below the elbow and are yellow.

Lake Nakuru is known for its Lesser Flamingoes. Although we saw many Lesser Flamingoes we did not see the vast numbers which everyone talks about. Flamingoes are itinerant and will move to the best feed waters wherever they are. What we did find was flotillas of Pink-backed Pelicans. These birds are pack hunters.

Being pack hunters these pelicans swam in a formation in the shape of buffalo horns. The flotilla swam towards the shore corralling the fish into the shallower waters and then began feasting. It comes very apparent when you sit and watch for a while that is there vast natural intelligence at work there.

There is no apparent communication, from a human perspective, but they all swim in unison, they work as one and all feed well.

Pink-backed Pelicans pack hunting. It is intriguing that as soon as a group of these pelicans form a pack, Pelicans from afar fly in to join the group. Intriguing that the Pelican’s behaved somewhat like vultures. They watch each other and as soon a group find a fish bait ball, Pelicans from all over Lake Nakuru fly in to join the feeding frenzy.

Away from the lake shore there were open patches in the fever tree forest which allowed the sun to caress the forest floor.

“Trees give peace to the souls of men.”~ Nora Waln

Amongst all the greens and browns was this startling Red Blood Lily. We were watching lion cubs playing around the base of a large fever tree, and inevitably your eye wanders around the scene just assimilating context when this red colour caught my eye. Mother nature does like to flirt with colour.

We found several Long Crested Eagles in the fever tree forest. This is a large, chunky, dark brown to blackish eagle with a towering, floppy crest. It is often found in woodlands, plantations, and open forest. This eagle perches for long periods, and obviously in a forest has little opportunity to soar which it only does at the fringes of the forest.

A view down the road through the fever tree forest. Oh, that early morning blue hue, giant fever trees with the escarpment looming in the background. This was the second loop road south of the lake.

“Deep in the forest I stroll…. to hear the wisdom of my soul.” ~ Angie Weiland-Crosby

Close to the edge of the lake in amongst the brush and fallen branches was this White-Browed Coucal. We heard it calling and only then saw it. The adult’s underparts and back are streaked, and it has a distinctive white eyebrow. This coucal has rufous wings and a long, broad tail. It has a barred rump and upper tail coverts, differentiating it from other coucals. It sings a deep descending bubbling series, “bu-bu-bu bu bu bu bu”, whilst changing pitch.

Back at LionHill Lodge, the staff had built a bird feeder which they filled with fruit and crumbs at midday every day. The birds learnt when lunch was served and arrived from all around. It got quite busy with weavers, starlings mousebirds, babblers, shrikes and waxbills all coming into feast. The next image is of a Lesser Masked Weaver with its characteristic beige eye and golden forehead which almost reaches its beak.

Kenya is fortunate to have a vast selection of starlings. This was an adult Superb Starling which was very happy to partake in the feast. Size counts when you are feasting and this was one of the larger avians at the feast.

A smaller one was this Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu. To us from southern Africa, this looked like a blue waxbill with a red cheek.

A Greater Blue-eared Starling. There are ten species of glossy starlings in east Africa but the Greater Blue-eared is the most ubiquitous. Many birds species tend to be region specific.

Not sure whether this male Coqui Francolin was hen pecked or has been in a serious territorial fight. The male Coqui Francolin has a rufous coloured head and an entirely white and black barred back and underparts while the belly is usually white to buff coloured. It is a beautifully coloured bird when it has not been in a tangle.

This was a fledged young Tawny Eagle. It had its wings open because a Vervet Monkey was threatening it from an adjacent branch. If that was not enough, an adult Augur Buzzard decided that this youngster was in its turf and attacked it. Interestingly, the Augur Buzzard was smaller than the Tawny Eagle.

Not a great photo as my focal length was too long for the scene, but an interesting interaction nevertheless. I was focused on the Vervet monkey when this Augur Buzzard came out of the gloom of the forest. Judging from the loss of one of its talons, this Augur Buzzard must have been a fighter.

Once out of the dappled shade and moody light of the forest, we drove to the lake shore. The lake is rising, so many of the shoreline fever trees had their feet in water. Interestingly, they did not seem to be the worse for the flooding. The flamingoes took full advantage of all the algae blooms in amongst the roots.

Again, the vista was very unusual. Huge fever trees standing in water while flamingoes filter fed around their feet.

“Forests are living historians. They have felt, smelt and seen all the comings and goings, some for centuries. They record their history. They offer great peace, solace and shelter. They reach for the sun and dance and sing in the wind.” ~ Mike Haworth

I hope this post has given you an idea of what avian species you might see in and around the fever tree forest of Lake Nakuru. It is by no means comprehensive, rather just a sample of what we were privileged to see in a few days.

“Once upon a time, forests were repositories for magic in the human race.”~ John Burnside

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike

The second leg of our Kenyan photographic safari with Wild Eye in April this year was to Lake Nakuru National Park which is 156 kilometres north of Nairobi. The trip takes between three or four hours depending on the traffic.

The Great Rift Valley is an immense geological feature in East Africa, formed over the past 35 million years. This giant split in the landscape was the result of two tectonic plates separating. Africa’s Great Rift Valley is one of the world’s most distinctive geo-morphological features, cutting through the continent from the Red Sea to southern Mozambique along two parallel fault lines. The rifts vary in width from 30-100 km, and are between several hundred to several thousand metres deep at some points. The rift has two sections in East Africa, a western rift through Uganda and an eastern rift through Kenya.

“Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always more to tell than can be told.” ~ Wendell Berry

The next image is taken from the main road looking west onto Lake Naivasha across the eastern limb of the Rift Valley. Lake Naivasha is a fresh water lake so is used for fishing and agriculture.

Kenya’s eastern Rift Valley has a string of eight lakes, from Lake Baringo in northern Kenya to Lake Magadi in southern Kenya. Some lakes are recognised as Wetlands of International Importance, and all are Important Bird Areas, with several being within UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites. The Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley includes three alkaline lakes which are overlooked by dramatic escarpments, volcanic features and associated geothermal features such as geysers, fumeroles and hot springs. Major differences in the lakes occur in their dissolved salts, varying from freshwater to hypersaline. The Eastern Rift Valley, south of its largest freshwater, Lake Turkana, features a string of smaller and shallower alkaline lakes. The three lakes are Nakuru, Bogoria and Elementeita. These alkaline lakes provide unique feeding habitats for East Africa’s famous Lesser Flamingos.

The alkaline lake waters support the prolific growth of green algae (Spirulina platensis), the main food of the itinerant Rift Valley population of Lesser Flamingos. The alkaline Rift Valley lakes are among the world’s most productive ecosystems and, although these harsh environments are relatively species-poor, they feed extraordinary numbers of birds. The most famous is Lake Nakuru, known worldwide for its huge flamingo populations and an enormous variety of other birds, which come to feed there. This lake is characterised by substantial water level fluctuations, along with highly variable ion concentrations.

“Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” ~ Wendell Berry

We spent five days exploring the wildlife in the Lake Nakuru National Park. Lake Nakuru is part of the Naivasha–Elmentaita–Nakuru basin, a region where the Eastern Rift reaches its highest elevation. The lake lies in a graben between the Lion Hill Volcano and the Mau Escarpment, the west wall of the Rift Valley.

The beautiful Lake Nakuru National Park is surrounded by wooded and bushy grassland. Nakuru means “Dust” or “Dusty Place” in the Maasai language. Lake Nakuru National Park was created in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, next to the town of Nakuru.

The Rift Valley is subject to ongoing plate tectonics and crustal movement which affects the lakes. The lake levels, have been rising recently due to above-average rainfall. With rainfall in the Rift Valley Basin being on a rising trend, hydrologists expect higher lake levels in the future.

The effects on lake ecologies are a concern as flooding increases lake turbidity and dilutes the saline waters of alkaline lakes. The water cycles of Rift Valley lakes are changing as water is taken out for use and because the catchments and land surrounding the lakes are being degraded. Forests are being converted into agricultural land, there is increasing urbanisation and people are encroaching onto riparian and wetland zones. These catchment changes reduce rainfall recharging of underground aquifers, and cause more sediment-such as soil-to run off into rivers. This sediment reaches and accumulates in lakes and reservoirs. This can clog natural underground freshwater outlets, in which can cause lake salinity and levels to rise. The deposited sediments also build the lake beds and lift lake water levels.

In May 2020, Lake Naivasha reached its highest level since 1932. Lakes Nakuru, Bogoria, and Baringo have also risen to their highest levels in decades, inundating roads and building infrastructure.

“But before the understanding comes the wonder. Comes the delight. And that is the first aim of being a bad birdwatcher: the calm delight of the utterly normal, and the rare and sudden delight of the utterly unexpected. The only real skill involved in this perfect birdwatching moment was the willingness to look. It was not skill that gave me the sight; it was habit. I have developed the habit of looking: when I see a bird I always look, wherever I am.” ~ Simon Barnes

The Lesser Flamingos constantly commute between the soda lakes in East Africa in search of food. Their preferred food, the cyanobacterium Arthrospira fusiformis, usually establishes dense populations in saline-alkaline habitats. The abundance of algae in the lake attracts vast numbers of flamingos to gather and feed around the shore. The number of flamingos on the lake varies as water and food conditions change. A very good vantage point from where to view this phenomenon is from the so-called Baboon Cliff.

In 2010, the park already had several Eastern Black rhinoceros, being the largest concentrations in the country, as well as a number of Southern White rhinos. Both the Kenyan subspecies of waterbuck are commonly found in the area too, as are warthogs, baboons and other large mammals.

The area was gazetted as Lake Nakuru National Park in 1968. During 1977 some Rothschild Giraffes were translocated from western Kenya to the park and was followed in 1984 with the establishment of the park as a first government managed rhino sanctuary. Two years later, in 1986, the chain link fence around the park was replaced by an electric fence and in the following year the whole park was declared a rhino sanctuary.

“As long as I live, I’ll hear waterfalls and birds and winds sing. I’ll interpret the rocks, learn the language of flood, storm, and the avalanche. I’ll acquaint myself with the glaciers and wild gardens, and get as near the heart of the world as I can”. ~ John Muir

The lake is world-famous as the location of one of the greatest bird spectacles on earth – millions of fuchsia pink flamingos feed on the abundant algae which thrives in the warm waters on the shores of Lake Nakuru. Despite the lukewarm and alkaline waters, a small fish, Tilapia Grahami has also flourished in the lake after being introduced in the early 1960s.

“The wonder of this region is that after rain storms some lakes turn fuchsia pink, and at times in other lakes, the flamingoes paint the shores fuchsia pink.” ~ Mike Haworth

The lake is very saline so is surrounded by a grassland of highly adaptable alkaline grasses. These grasses do not seem to worry the rhino or buffalo populations.

Wherever there are buffalo there are usually lions. We found a female near a buffalo kill with her three cubs who were happily playing in the wet grass among the fever trees next to a marsh.

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls….” ~ John Muir

Lake Nakuru National Park stretches over 188 square kilometres. Lake Nakuru itself is protected under the Ramsar Convention on wetlands. The park was enlarged partly in an effort to provide a sanctuary for the rhino, including the critically endangered Black rhino. An area of 188 km (116 miles) around the lake is fenced off as a sanctuary for the protection of giraffes as well as both Black and White rhino.

“Everybody needs beauty…places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.” ~ John Muir

The fact that the town of Nakuru is right on the border north and eastern to the park is disconcerting but once in the park you lose all sense that there is a town on its borders. The fact that the wildlife is thrives in this park and there is a growing human population on the park’s border is testament to the park’s conservation and security efforts.

We visited the park during the ‘long rains’ in Kenya so we never got a sense that it was a dry dusty place. There were thunderstorms each afternoon and the flat area around the lake made it quite marshy and wetland oriented. One of the key features of this park is its vast fever tree forests, the character of which I will show in the next few posts.

Lake Nakuru was quite different to Amboseli. There is a significant difference in elevation, and the wildlife is mostly different as are the birds and the vegetation.

There is an incredible variety of wild places to visit in Africa. Kenya offers a wildlife photographer an unlimited palette of colours, shapes and moods with which to play.

“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapour is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” ~ John Muir

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike