Kenya | Day 5: Navaisha – Nakuru (Lake Nakuru)

Another early rise today. After putting down the tents and packed our belongings, we had a quick breakfast before getting on our vans on a 1 ½ drive to Lake Nakuru National Park. Along the way, we stopped by Navaisha town to get some groceries. The town was hustling and bustling with Kenyan doing daily purchasing. We stopped by a grocery store and bought some snacks.

We arrived at Lake Nakuru National Park around midday. Lake Nakuru is known as the centre of biodiversity and you will be able to see high concentration of fantastic species especially Nakuru’s iconic flamingoes, along with a huge abundance of other waterbirds—gulls, terns, ducks, herons, ibises, and nearly anything else you might expect in or near a lake. We also saw many mammals, including impala, gazelles, rhinos, vervet monkeys, and baboons. Entrance fee is USD60/pax/non-resident.

The entrance to Lake Nakuru National Park. 

Baboons were seen everywhere!

My buddies on the minibus. 

White-breasted cormorant spotted. 

I was amazed by the vast quantity of flamingoes feeding on the lake’s abundance algae. It was live National Geographic moment for me. We stopped at Baboon Cliff for lunch where we had a panoramic view of Lake Nakuru. We were also greeted with the sight of Rock Hyrax chilling by the cliff.

Greater Flamingoes feeding. Just a mesmerising view!

The flamingos up close.  

A herd of Cape Buffaloes.

Southern Crowned Cranes feed in the lush grassland. 

The view is just stunning! Clear blue skies with white clouds mirror-imaging the lake.

There was one van who managed to spot a leopard along the way and there were lucky as our lecturers who have been to Lake Nakuru several times had never spotted one before.

An antelope spotted.

The view of the lake from Baboon Cliff.

A Rock Hyrax basking on the cliff.

A tortoise! 

Egyptian Ducks.

We settled down at the campsite located in the national park itself. The campsite was surrounded by fences and patrolled by night watchmen. The feeling that night was completely different compared to the previous 4 nights at Top Hill as we were able to freely experience wild sights, sounds and smells. Additionally, we could hear the rumbling, cooing and yapping of various beasts on the other side of the fence. This was a totally great experience and a once in a lifetime indeed.