Lake Nakuru National Park

A beautiful wildlife haven “On the floor of the Great Rift Valley, surrounded by wooded and bushy grassland, lies the beautiful Lake Nakuru National Park. Visitors can enjoy the wide ecological diversity and varied habitats that range from Lake Nakuru itself to the surrounding escarpment and picturesque ridges. Lake Nakuru National Park is ideal for bird watching, hiking, picnics and game drives. It is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores. There are two types of flamingo species: the lesser flamingo can be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill and pink plumage from the greater, which has a bill with a black tip. The lesser flamingos are the ones that are commonly pictured in documentaries mainly because they are large in The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingos 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 (117 mi) around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect giraffes as well as both black and white rhinos. The park has recently been enlarged partly to provide a sanctuary for black rhinos. This endeavor has necessitated a fence – to keep out poachers rather than to restrict the movement of wildlife. The park now (2009) has more than 25 eastern black rhinoceros, one of the largest concentrations in the country, plus around 70 southern white rhinos. There are also a number of Rothschild’s giraffe, again relocated for safety from western Kenya beginning in 1977. Waterbuck are very common and both the Kenyan subspecies are found here. Among the predators are lions, cheetahs and leopards, 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.