Lake Nakuru National Park – Kenya

Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya

Lake Nakuru national park is rich in biodiversity despite being among the smaller parks of Kenya. Its best known for its birdlife and as a refuge for the White Rhino. The avian highlights are the Flamingoes and other birdlife found on the shores of lake Nakuru. The park is also a breeding point for the endangered White Rhinos species and there is probably no better place in east Africa to observe the White Rhino. Nakuru also offers excellent bird watching and game viewing with all the Big five with the exception of the Elephant. Also inhabiting this park is the endangered Rothschild Giraffe, Waterbuck, gazelle and baboon.

The focal point of the park is the Lake Nakuru itself, whose shallow turquoise green waters are highly alkaline and support concentration of the spirulina platensis. A visit to lake Nakuru can also be combined with a safari to Masai Mara and other parks in Kenya ie Samburu, Aberdares, Ol Pejeta or Lake Naivasha. While most of the productive area for a game drive is the open flood plain souths of the lake, the western forested belt of the park is a good area to view the endangered Rothschild Giraffe and elusive Leopards.
The lake Nakuru national park supports a cover of lush acacia woodland dominated by the fever acacia tree. European settlers associated its jaundiced bark with malaria. This is the best place to look out for the black rhino. A dozen white and 20 black rhino were introduced to Nakuru in the 1990s and have since bred to form populations of over 50 Rhinos. The white Rhino is particular common in the southern flood plain. Lake Nakuru is an important strong hold for the Rothschild Giraffe, a rare western race that has thrived since its introduction in the park. The Nakuru population is the second largest in the world after Murchison falls national park in Uganda and the largest in Kenya.