Lake Nakuru National Park-Self Drive Kenya Safaris

Booked your self drive Kenya safari and wondering where to start the safari, Self drive East Africa has listed a number of Kenyan National Parks that can be visited in your 4wd Car Rental Jeep from experts.

Lake Nakuru Historical Development.

Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes at an elevation of 1,754 m above sea level lying to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake’s abundance of algae used to attract a vast quantity of flamingos that famously lined the shore and the park was created in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, near Nakuru Town. It is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores. 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 and there are myriad other bird species that inhabit the lake and the area surrounding it such as African fish eagle, Goliath heron, hamerkop, pied kingfisher. Also of interest is an area of 188 km 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 the sanctuary for the black rhinos. This undertaking has necessitated a fence to keep out poachers rather than to restrict the movement of wildlife.

The park 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, Water buck 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.

Activities in Nakuru national park

Lake Nakuru National Park is one of the most treasured parks in Kenya. If you are a lover of nature who enjoys touring Kenya’s fine sites, being at the park will mark memorable moments in your life and these are some of activities that you can indulge in at the park.

Game drive

This is best done in the company of an expert guide who knows the park’s birds since they are the main attraction here. It is one of the parks in Kenya where you can drive up close to white rhino and may even snap a shot of them with flocks of flamingos on the Lake in the background.

Game viewing

At Lake Nakuru National Park, you can see the endangered white rhinos and other animals including water bucks, warthogs, hippos, impalas, buffalo, Rothschild giraffes lions, cheetahs and leopards.

Bird watching

Enjoy the fabulous water birds and other bird species such as African fish eagle, Goliath heron, hamerkop, pied kingfisher and Verreaux’s eagle. The best place to view the birds is from Baboon cliff, where you get an excellent view over the lake and the wonderful spectacle of pink flamingos along its edge.