Lake Nakuru, the world-famous haunt of flamingos, is a shallow alkaline lake in Kenya’s Rift Valley, some 62sq km (24sq miles) in extent, immediately south of Nakuru township. A first-class tarmac highway connects Nairobi with Nakuru, the 156-km (97mile) road link passing down the forested Kikuyu Escarpment with fine views over the Kedong Valley and Mounts Suswa and Longonot, then north-westwards past Lakes Naivasha and Elementaita. From Nakuru the route to the lake is well signposted. Visitors to Lake Nakuru National Park may stay in hotels in Nakuru, at the Lake Nakuru Lodge, converted from a farmhouse at the southern edge of the Park, or at Lion Hill Camp, which provides full service.
The National Park comprises the lake and it’s surrounds. The landscape is picturesque, areas of sedge, marsh and grasslands alternating with rocky cliffs and outcrops, stretches of yellow-barked acacia woodland and on the eastern perimeter rocky hillsides covered with a forest of grotesque-looking Euphorbia trees—all set against a background of hilly, broken country.
The Park was created in 1960 chiefly as a bird sanctuary. At times vast concentrations of more than a million flamingos live on the lake, forming what the famous ornithologist, Roger Tory Peterson, has described as `the most fabulous bird spectacle in the world’. But flamingos are unpredictable creatures, and not always to be found on Lake Nakuru in such vast numbers.
The lake water-levels derive from rainfall and the inflow of the tiny Njoro River fluctuates greatly. As conditions and food supplies alter, so do the numbers of flamingos present. However, even when the flamingo population is at low ebb there is always a wealth of bird-life to be observed on Lake Nakuru, both water-birds and those species which favour the habitats surrounding the lake. At present, nearly 400 species have been recorded within the area of the Park. White Pelicans can be seen in large numbers at the southern end of the Lake and on the north-eastern shore, where they come to wash, and where hides and viewing platforms have been erected. These birds have increased considerably since the alkaline-tolerant fish, Talapia grahami was introduced into the lake by the present writer and have now become a spectacular feature of the Park.
Although Lake Nakuru National Park is primarily a bird sanctuary, the number of animals to be encountered is not inconsiderable. A small herd of Hippopotamus lives among the reeds in the north-eastern corner, where springs have created a series of hippo pools. The lake shore is a good place to observe Bohor Reedbuck; these animals are often flushed from high grass or sedge in which they sleep during the day. In recent years, there has been a marked increase in the number of Bohor Reedbucks and Defassa Reedbucks in the Park. Bushbuck may be seen at the end of the acacia woodland, especially at dawn and towards dusk. Lake Nakuru is the home of a very rare bat, the Long-eared Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros megalotis), a tiny orange-buff species with ears half the length of it’s body.