Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park is a well-known safari destination and national park in Kenya, located in the southern part of Nakuru County, adjacent to Nakuru City, the largest city in central and western Kenya, and the fourth largest city in the country. Lake Nakuru Park is located 164 kilometers north of Nairobi in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. The park covers an area of ​​188 square kilometers with savanna grasslands, wetlands, mountains, and 45 square kilometers of Lake Nakuru as the main landscape kilometer. Lake Nakuru Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site registered under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the park takes its name from the Maasai slag, which translates to a dusty place.

The national park is a great birding destination known for the millions of flamingos (large and small) that live on the shores of Lake Nakuru, which are attracted to the lake because of the abundance of algae on the shores of the lake. What do they live on? The large flamingo population in Lake Nakuru National Park fills the shores of the lake, making the lake difficult to spot.

Lake Nakuru National Park

Birding Adventures in Lake Nakuru National Park

The National Park is a bird sanctuary with more than 400 bird species recorded, apart from flamingos there are other birds including starling, ducks, white-winged terns, Abyssinian and willow starlings, bateleurs, black tern, black tern-winged wood duck, sulfur canary, tawny grouse, crab hen, eastern imperial eagle, devil, gray crane, gray eagle, great sand eagle, the great eagle, gray thorn, Hildebrandt’s myna, Kenyan cardinal, lark vulture, lesser flamingo, little tern, tall widow, macaw duck, Upland Baltic, Northern Plover, Light-winged Lark, Red-throated Lark, Red-throated Vulture, Ripel’s Vulture, Black-throated Hornbill, Black Falcon, Spike Weaver, Western Reef Heron, White Bee-eaters, Bald Vultures, and others.

The national park is also a great habitat for wildlife and is home to several animal species like Rothschild’s giraffes, dik-diks, impalas, Burchell’s zebras, hippos, gazelles, antelopes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, etc. Lake Nakuru is famous. A rhino reserve was declared by the Kenyan government in 1970. According to records, there are about 100 white rhinos and 50 black rhinos in Lake Nakuru.

Safari activities in Lake Nakuru National Park

Bird watching

The national park is a great birding destination in Kenya and is famous for recording more than 2 million pink flamingos, fuchsia pink flamingos are found on the shores of Lake Nakuru and are attracted to the lake to eat the lake’s water, which is rich in saltwater algae. When you visit Lake Nakuru on a bird-watching tour, you will enjoy watching these birds perch on one leg with the other tucked under their body as they feed on dirt and mud. Bird-watching in Lake Nakuru National Park allows you to discover more of the park’s birds, with over 400 species recorded, including little starlings, ducks, white-winged terns, Abyssinian Asian starlings, starlings, and butlers, black duck, black-winged duck, sulfur-canary, brown-winged eagle, crab-hen, eastern eagle, European walrus, gray crane, gray woodpecker, the great eagle, the great eagle, gray-crowned thorn, Hildebrand’s thrush, Kenyan cardinal, spotted vulture, little flamingo, little vulture, long-tailed widow, Michell and, mountain bald eagle, northern puffin, pallid hawk, red-headed lark, red-necked warbler, Rüppell’s Rubella robin, Schalow’s wheatear, shining sunbird, slender-billed sandpiper, black falcon, Speke’s weaver, western reef heron, white-fronted piper, bald vulture, and others.

Lake Nakuru National Park

Kenya Safari Adventure

game drives

Lake Nakuru is home to a variety of animal species and is believed to have the largest population of rhinos in Kenya, including white and black rhinos. About 100 white rhinos and 50 rare black rhinos have been recorded in Lake Nakuru, which are easy to spot as you drive through the park to spot game. The park’s prairies are home to other game animals, including impala, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, deer, jackal, lion, leopard, wild dog, colobus monkey, and more.

Camping

Lake Nakuru National Park offers an exciting camping experience, camping allows you to fully interact with nature, enjoy listening to the roar of night lions, and see a million stars in the sky. There are many lodges and campsites in Lake Nakuru ranging from luxury, mid-range, and budget, safari lodges and campsites in Lake Nakuru Park including Sarova Lion Rock Lodge, Flamingo Mountain Tented Camps, Kivu Resorts, Lake Nakuru Flamingo Lodges and more.

How to get to Lake Nakuru National Park?

Lake Nakuru is accessible by both air and road, the best depending on the visitor’s choice, while Nakuru National Park Kenya Safari uses 3 entry and exit gates, Main Gate, Lanet Gate, and Nderit Door.

By Road:

From Nairobi, Lake Nakuru National Park takes the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway, which passes through the spectacular Rift Valley, and along the way, you will enjoy spectacular views of the cliffs. When using road transport, a 4X4WD vehicle is highly recommended.

Air:

Domestic flights provide Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Naihi Airport located on Lake Nakuru.