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Lake Nakuru National Park

National Park known as a bird watcher’s paradise, the park is home to over 450 bird species

Lake Nakuru National Park:
Destination Overview

 

Located in the Great Rift Valley, the Lake Nakuru National Park is inhabited by over 50 mammal species including hippo, black and white rhino, Rothschild giraffe, buffalo and eland. Known as a bird watcher’s paradise, the park is home to over 450 bird species including the Lesser Flamingo.

Lake Nakuru offers easy wildlife viewing of most big safari animals with the exception of elephants. Black and white rhino were re-introduced in the 1990s and have bred to healthy populations. White rhino are usually easy to see on the lakeshore. Rothschild giraffe, buffalo and hippo are numerous as well. Lucky visitors might see lions, which occasionally climb trees. Leopard are present, but not often encountered.

The scenery of Lake Nakuru NP is breathtaking. The Rift Valley escarpment, dotted with euphorbia trees, rises up from the lakeshore. Heavy mist usually shrouds the lake and surrounding yellow fever trees in the early morning.

Spotlight On:

The park’s main feature is a large, shallow lake supporting great birdlife, including big flocks of pelicans and variable flocks of flamingos.

Best time to Visit

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Lake Nakuru National Park: In Pictures

 

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Visit Lake Nakuru National Park; What to see and do.

Most big safari animals are present in Lake Nakuru NP with the exception of elephants. The park is known for its populations of black and white rhino. White rhino is particularly conspicuous, and different groups can be encountered throughout the day. Hippo, waterbuck, Burchell's zebra and Thomson's gazelle are common on the floodplains. The park is an important stronghold for the rare Rothschild's giraffe. It was introduced to the park in the 1980s and has now become locally common. Aside from the widespread vervet monkey and olive baboon, the beautiful black-and-white colobus monkey can sometimes be found in the acacia forest. A highlight, if you’re lucky enough, are the tree-climbing lions – Lake Nakuru NP is the best place in Kenya to see them

Birdlife

Lake Nakuru is a great birding destination with more than 500 species recorded. The soda lake is a birding hotspot and supports a lot of birdlife, including large flocks of pelicans. Unfortunately, flamingos are no longer the drawcard here as unfavorable conditions have driven many of them to other Rift Valley lakes. Nakuru is also one of the best places in Kenya to see the striking, long-tailed widowbird. There is a good variety of raptors including Verreaux’s and long-crested eagle.

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