Lake Nakuru National Park

Shimmering Flamingo Realm

The pulsating rose tinted glow of a million flamingos feeding within blue hued alkaline waters create the greatest bird spectacle on earth. An ornithologist paradise.

Lake Nakuru National Park is an equally rewarding game viewing arena and sanctuary for rare black and white rhinos.

Within the ancient landscape, known as the cradle of mankind, the Lake’s pink-frosted shores and sky-mirrored waters shape unforgettable moments crowned by some of the most stunning scenic images in Africa.

Wildlife

Initially established as a bird sanctuary, the park’s careful management and re-introduction program has since ensured a thriving mammal fauna which includes some of Kenya’s most rare species.

Rare Rothschild's giraffe and endangered black and white rhino are common in the park, amidst large herds of Cape buffalo, ranging through the woodlands and grasslands.

The acacia woodlands shelter herds of graceful Impalas, shaggy waterbucks and shy bushbuck; rocky hillside provide a perfect habitat for rock hyrax.

To the south of the lake, herds of Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle dot the plains.

Carnivores are well presented by lions, leopard, cheetah, spotted and striped hyena, serval cats as well as the silver-backed and side-striped jackal, civet, genet and mongoose.

The most visible primates are the somber olive baboons and the mysterious black-faced vervet monkey, while dignified troops of colobus monkey often prance among the trees.

As Kenya’s first established rhino sanctuary, the park holds one of the largest black rhino concentration in the country.

Two species thrive there; the square-lipped or white rhino, preferring to graze in the short grass of the plains, and its more nervous browsing cousin, the black rhino, that tends to keep to the cover of thicker bush.

Plants

Covered by a mosaic of acacia woodland and bush with patches of forest in the higher areas, the park’s flora is an attraction too.

Pure stands of yellow-backed acacia (fever tree) fringe the lake while the eastern hillside are cloaked in some of the largest stands of euphorbia candelabrum in Africa.

On the wetter hillsides, croton bushes and olives form gnarled stands mixed with scented, silver leaved ol-leleshwa on rocky slopes.

The shallow alkaline algae water support a dense blue-green algae which provides the staple diet of the flamingos and gives the lake its sparkling sapphire blue hue.

Reptiles

The cliffs and crevices, reeds and rocks of the park suit snakes, lizard, chameleons and tortoises.

They include the legendary African rock python which is capable of swallowing an impala whole, plus the aptly named leopard tortoise and the sky blue and coral headed agama lizard, often seen basking and bobbing in the sunshine.