Kenya – Pretty in Pink

March 27

Hello everyone!

After an incredible experience in the Masai Mara, my sister Laura and I headed north to one of Kenya’s larger towns: Nakuru. It has a lake which has some pretty visitors.

Flamingos: strange birds

It took about 5 hours to drive from the Masai Mara
to Nakuru, including stops for lunch and toilets

Lake Nakuru is situated within a national park of the same name. As well as the wacky waders, there are many other animals found in the confines of the park.

The Rothschild giraffes were moved here from western Kenya
for protection and conservation

At 188km², Lake Nakuru is much smaller than the Masai Mara

Laura had had an incredible first safari adventure, seeing four of the ‘Big Five’ animals in the Masai Mara. The missing piece of the jigsaw was the rhino. Luckily for her, Lake Nakuru is home to Kenya’s first national rhino sanctuary and has one of the world’s largest concentrations of black rhino.

The last survey suggested there are about 80 rhinos in total in the park

Our luck was out on that front – the pictures in this blog are white rhinos, no matter how much they rolled around in the dark mud to try to convince us otherwise (yes, I know that’s not the difference between them). I love rhinos so am happy to see any kind, particularly with recent news.

White rhinos aren't counted in the 'Big Five' -
black rhinos are more aggressive

The mother and baby above were adorable, with the youngster poking its horn gently into its mum’s side for attention. Another family, of four, were to be found on the grassland a short distance from the lakeshore.

The one at the back didn't move for so long I was convinced
it was a rock - even with binoculars...

What inhabits that water is the reason many flock to Lake Nakuru. During breeding season, the lake can often transform to varying shades of pink and it can be difficult to see the water beneath the mass of pink and white feathers.

Flamingos lose their colour as they age, passing it on to their young

We were told that many of the flamingos now reside
at nearby Lake Bogoria, to the north of Nakuru

Up to two million flamingos can descend on the lake at that time. Clearly, we weren’t around at the right time as we saw less than two dozen, in addition to cormorants and pelicans. Still, they are amazing and weird creatures. Just look at those spindly legs!

There may be a darker reason for the lack of flamingos. As it has no outlet, the level of Lake Nakuru has been rising dramatically in recent years, to the point where the main park office has had to be relocated. The effect of this is that it is becoming harder for the flamingos to get their algae from the soil, resulting in them flocking to other lakes nearby.

Scientists (and Wikipedia) reckon that the flamingo population at Nakuru
consumes about 250,000kg of algae per hectare every year.
That's a LOT.

The lake has also suffered from human hands; pollution and sewage from the nearby town, which itself is growing rapidly, is inexplicably pumped into the lake. Why you would knowingly damage the very thing which puts you on the map is…well, I don’t have words.

Industrial pollution also contributes to the problem,
often poisoning the water

I’m more interested in seeing the animals do something now, having seen most of them in the flesh. As well as the rhinos rolling around in the mud, there were other moments in Lake Nakuru National Park which seemed to bring it to life.

There was a fight between two zebras…

A herd of eland leaping across a road, often one at a time…

The eland is the largest antelope species

All of this after watching a troop of baboons, including a baby which looked like it could have been born that morning, jumping around.

A monkey swinging from a tree branch

Look at that cute ugly baby!

Watching the little one try desperately to jump onto an adult’s back and fail miserably was as endearing as it was funny.

Baby animals must be in vogue at the moment at Lake Nakuru National Park. The four baby warthogs feeding from their mother got scared as we passed and started trotting along, their legs seeming to whirr in comparison to the mum.

Little warthogs trying to keep up with their mother

We have been very lucky on our safari adventures in Kenya (less so on the return, when the car broke down). Lake Nakuru is a different experience to the Masai Mara – you have to stay on the roads, there are no elephants, far fewer cars – but both have provided memories that will last a lifetime.

Love you all

Matt