Flamingos

Lake Nakuru National Park

Set beneath the high cliffs of the eastern Rift Valley and the centrepiece of the national park, this shallow alkaline soda lake is the location of one of the most awe inspiring wildlife shows on earth. The lake is home to a staggering concentration of pink flamingos, sometimes numbering more than a million and so many in fact that it is often difficult to see the surface of the lake itself.

Two species of flamingo live and breed here. The lesser flamingo is the more numerous and can be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill unlike the greater which has a bill with a black tip. The lake is also rich in other bird life, with over 400 resident species on the lake and in the surrounding park including pelicans, cormorants, grebes, terns and ducks as well as many migrant waders during the European winter. This really is paradise for the ornithologist.

Away from the lake, Lake Nakuru National Park is very picturesque and provides a variety of wildlife habitats with marsh, grassland and dense acacia woodland broken by rocky cliffs and escarpments. The park has recently been enlarged to provide a sanctuary for rhino and there are also a number of the rare Rothschild's giraffe. Waterbuck are very common and the big predators include lion and leopard, the park being one of the best places to view the latter. There are also large pythons that slither silently through those acacias.

t: 01625 440777 e: info@kenya-indepth.co.uk

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