Naivasha National Park
According to a2zcamerablog, Lake Naivasha is located in the west of the country, 83 km from Nairobi. It is the highest among the lakes located within the Great African Rift. This is a shallow, salty lake. A huge number of fish live in its waters. Therefore, fishing is very popular among tourists.
Mount Longonot rises above it. Of all the lakes in the Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha is located at the highest altitude – 1880 m.
This beautiful freshwater lake is surrounded by mountains, where extinct volcanoes and mountain escarpments that surround the lake from the south and west are home to over 450 bird species.
Here you can meet a pelican, a razor stork and a heron. In general, Naivasha is a paradise for amateur ornithologists, because. birds can be observed in the immediate vicinity of the lake. From October to March, their population increases significantly, thanks to migratory birds. Of course, here you can see the famous pelicans and cormorants – there are a lot of them here, and they are invariably magnificent.
But the main pride of these places is the African fisher eagle. His hunting call leaves a lasting impression on visitors, an impression similar to that which occurs when you hear a lion’s roar in national parks. And if you hire a boat, you can get to Crescent Island and find yourself in the very center of the wild animal world.
Papyrus islands, located in the center of the lake, attract special attention of travelers. Among fans of windsurfing and yachting sports, the island of Crescent is the most popular. This is a small island, on the shore of which a magnificent yacht club is open, and in the central part there is a private reserve – a habitat for elephants and large African cats.
Nakuru National Park
In the west of Kenya, 156 km from Nairobi, near the city of Nakuru, in the area of the Great African Rift, there is Lake Nakuru National Park. The total area is 188 sq. km. In its central part, there is an amazingly beautiful lake – a habitat for pelicans, and graceful long-legged flamingos that live here in colonies of several thousand.
Tourists from all over the world come here to see this fantastic sight! Lake Nakuru is like a huge bird show, with over a million pink flamingos flocking to the lake to feast on the local favorite fish. And the pink color of these sunset children is explained very prosaically – their main food is small crustaceans, whose chitinous shells contain a stable dye. It turns out that the red ones are the most voracious? Or the oldest?
The city of Nakuru does not represent anything interesting, it is the fourth largest Kenyan city, but its national park is one of the main attractions of Kenya. Have you ever seen a photograph of hundreds of thousands of pink flamingos nesting along the shores of a lake? It must have been filmed in Nakuru. The lake, the main attraction of the park, like all the lakes of the Rift Valley (Nivasha, Baringo, Bogoria, Magadi, Natron), is alkaline. Many consider these lakes the most beautiful place in Africa. There are quite a lot of hot springs and geysers in the lake area.
The landscapes of the national park are stunningly beautiful and diverse. Acacia forests grow in coastal areas, beyond which they stretch. Endless green fields and mountain ranges.
In addition to flamingos, pelican, cormorant, heron, warthog, waterbuck, buffalo, giraffe, Thompson’s gazelle, redunka and klippspringer (leaper) can also be seen in Nakuru National Park. Here is the oldest rhinoceros nursery in Kenya. In the eastern part of the park there is a very beautiful forest of milkweed, and in the south, in the thickets of acacia, zoologists are trying to revive the population of the black rhinoceros, which is threatened with extinction, because. it is destroyed because of the horn, which, according to the inhabitants of Asia, is capable of increasing potency. This program is being successfully implemented, which is facilitated by the large size of the park.
Beyond the territory of the national park, on the other side of the city, rises Menengai, a huge extinct volcano. From the observation deck you can look at
a huge trail left by lava and a forest sprawling in its huge caldera.
The best view of the lake is from the top of the cliff. There are clouds of birds on the water. And in the distance – the silhouette of a giraffe… Gumilyov was right! In addition to flamingos, pelicans and marabou live on the lake. These are the ones you can see right away. What about small birds, insects, rodents? You just have to read about them. And now it’s time to go – stay happy, Nakuru!
