Lake Nakuru National Park is situated at the shores of Lake Nakuru next to the town of Nakuru covering an area of approximately 188 square kilometers. The Park is mostly for its residing thousands and sometimes millions of flamingos nesting along the shores of Lake Nakuru.
The shores of Lake Nakuru is invaded with algae to which flamingos feed on thus attracting a large number of flamingos to nest at the shores of the lake and the Park is globally known for being the best place in the world for viewing flamingos since they are resided there in higher amounts.
The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink and the number of flamingos on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point for viewing the flamingos is from the Baboon Cliff.
Around the lake there is also an area fenced off as a sanctuary to protect giraffes as well as both black and white rhinos.
Though the park was established when small, it has recently been enlarged partly to provide the sanctuary for the black rhinos and this undertaking has necessitated a fence to keep out poachers rather than to restrict the movement of wildlife.
The park marches for 12.1 km on the south eastern boundary with the Soysambu conservancy which represents a possible future expansion of habitat for the rhinos and the only remaining wildlife corridor to Lake Naivasha.
As of 2009, the Park consists of more than 25 eastern black rhinoceros thus being one of the largest concentrations in the country plus a massive population of approximately 70 southern white rhinos.
There are also a number of Rothschild’s giraffes which have been relocated for safety from western Kenya beginning in 1977. Water bucks are also very common in the Park together with African lions, cheetahs and leopards though due to poaching, their numbers have decreased compared to the recent days.
The park also resides large sized pythons that inhabit the dense woodlands and can often be seen crossing the roads or dangling from trees.
Besides the famous flamingos which dominate the Park, there are also many other bird species resided here such as; the African fish eagles, Goliath herons, hammer-kops, pied kingfishers and Verreaux’s eagles among others.
The shallow alkaline lake (Lake Nakuru) is the major attraction of wildlife species in the Park together with birdlife and it is situated about 164 kilometers from Nairobi thus can be visited in a day tour from Kenya’s capital or more likely as part of a circuit taking in the famous Maasai Mara reserve or Lake Baringo and east to Samburu game reserve.
The shallow alkaline lake is worldly famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth more especially the flamingos which almost number 2 millions and they feed on the abundant algae which thrives in the warm waters of the lake.
There are basically two types of flamingo species which include; the lesser flamingos which can be distinguished by its deep red carmine bill and pink plumage unlike the greater flamingos which have a bill with a black tip.
The lesser flamingos are ones that are commonly pictured in documentaries mainly because they are resided in higher amounts however, the number of flamingos has been decreasing recently perhaps due to too much tourism, pollution resulting from industries waterworks nearby who dump waste into the waters or simply because of changes in water quality which makes the lake temporarily inhospitable. Usually, the lake recedes during the dry season and floods during the wet season.
Pollution and drought destroy the flamingos’ food (algae) and causing them to migrate to the nearby Lakes such as; Lake Bogoria, Lake Elmenteita and Lake Simbi Nyaima.
For the visitors who will spend more than one day in the Park will have their overnights in the good facilitated accommodations such as; Lakira camp, Mbweha safari camp, Lake Nakuru lodge and Sarova lion hill lodge among others.
