Lake Nakuru and Return to Nairobi

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The next day was the final day of the package safari that we had booked (however we had one further day in Nairobi) so we got up at a reasonable time, and after breakfast went to Lake Nakuru National Park. First though we drove through the small city of Nakuru itself which was surprisingly nice with cycle paths and lots of jacaranda trees in bloom that lined the roads. There were also many Pied Crows, Sacred Ibis, and Hadada Ibis about.

When we reached Nakuru National Park, the area around the entrance was surprisingly much less green compared to the Maasai Mara. In these dry areas, there were quite a few common mammals including Zebras and Impalas, and one particularly interesting bird sighting early on was a Long-crested Eagle perched in a tree. There were also quite high numbers of Drongos about as well as common species such as Superb Starlings and Marabou Storks.
We then entered the more wooded areas that surround the lake which were very nice with lots of big, tall trees (tall compared to those in the other national parks that we visited on this trip) and there were a few Baboons and Vervets around as well as some very interesting birds with main highlights being an African Black Duck, a Cardinal Woodpecker, and at least one Red-throated Wryneck which was a species that I particularly wanted to see at Nakuru, but unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a picture of it. On my previous visit to Lake Nakuru in 2007 I saw a Leopard, some Black-and-white Colobus, and a Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, so I kept a particular look out for those species, however I didn’t see any of them this time.

We soon reached the lakeside itself and we could get out of the minibus to get a closer look at some of the waterbirds on the shore. There was quite a large variety of different species including both Pelican species, Marabou and Yellow-billed storks, African Spoonbills, African Darters, Cape Teals, and quite a variety of different waders which included Black-winged Stilts, Blacksmith Plovers, Greenshanks, Spotted Redshanks, Ruffs, and various other species. I also saw a small group of Greater Flamingos which were, unfortunately, the only flamingos that I saw on Lake Nakuru. Despite the lake being famous for huge numbers of Lesser Flamingos, I didn’t see any when I was there this time because apparently due to water level rises in the last few years, the flamingos no longer stay on the lake. This was disappointing because I remembered huge numbers of flamingos from last time, but at least there were a few Greater Flamingos around. While I was looking at some of the wading birds, a large Cape Buffalobegan to approach so for safety reasons I had to quickly get back into the vehicle.

We then continued on to a place called ‘Baboon Cliffs’ which is a picnic site and lookout point, however on the way we passed several giraffes. These looked different to the Maasai Giraffes that we had seen previously, so I later googled it, and they turned out to be Rothschild’s Giraffes that had been relocated there.

When we got to the view point, the view was absolutely amazing. We could see all across the lake and down to the woodlands along the shores with the sheer cliffs going down, and with the clear blue sky it was fantastic.

There were several Cape Buffalos in the forest below and lots of Swifts swooping in the sky in front with a pair of Cliff Chats in the trees on the edge of the cliff. The other fantastic thing was the many reptiles on the rocks around the picnic site and on the cliffs, the most spectacular of these being many Agama lionotus which did a lot of head bobbing.

Looking down at the rocks of the cliffs, I saw many droppings, and then spotted the cause of the droppings which was a medium sized group of Rock Hyrax lying in the sun on a rock below. There were several other interesting birds around too such as a Grey Wagtail and some Red-cheeked Cordon-bleus and I really liked this area with the fantastic view, particularly with the good weather on that day, and since it is an official picnic site, we could walk around freely. So it was nice to spend some there before continuing on the drive around the National Park.

As we drove around, I noticed that there were a large number of Kenyan Wildlife Service officials, and actually extremely few tourists (I think we passed one tourist car but three KWS cars in the whole park), and I got a few more interesting bird sightings too such as a Grey-headed Kingfisher, Grey-backed Fiscals and a Hoopoe. We then visited the Makali Waterfall which was quite spectacular, there were many butterflies, and lots of Red-winged Starlings in the trees around.

I did however notice a horrible smell coming from a bit further down so I walked down to a small bridge where the smell was coming from and found a rotting carcass of a Cape Buffalo stuck in the water under a small bridge.

We then continued back across some open plains where there were a few interesting birds and common hoofstock, including two Common Ostriches and large herds of Waterbuck and Impala. We then came back up near to the lake edge and where there were two White Rhinos in the distance which were initially sitting down so were barely visible, but luckily they then got up. While we watched the Rhinos, I looked at the various waterbirds in a nearby water area/creek. There were quite a few Yellow-billed Ducks as well as Little Grebes, Black-headed Herons and small waders, as well as a group of Great White Pelicans flying overhead.



Soon after that we left the National Park, with one notable sighting on the way out being an African Grey Hornbill. I felt that I would have liked to spend longer at Nakuru, and we probably would have had double the time if it wasn’t for getting stuck the previous day and missing the previous evening drive, but never mind, and I did see quite a bit of the park with a fair few bird species.

There was a fair bit of traffic on the drive back to Nairobi, and I didn’t see any new birds during the drive, however we got back not long after four and were dropped off back in the very nice Hotel Troy that we had stayed at for the first night. I did see plenty of birds on the grounds, but nothing new, though I did manage to photograph a White-browed Robin-chat that I had failed to previously. We also met up with some friends that evening who live in Nairobi, and went to bed with one more day of 'zooing' and 'safariing' to go the next day.

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