|
WhereAreJanetandRick Kenya Safari |
Lake Nakuru National Park
Lake Nakuru
This is a soda lake that's known for it's varied bird population and is Kenya's 2nd most popular safari destination after the Masi Mara. In the years of El Nino, it nearly dried up and the resident flamingo population moved to another lake. The water level has since risen and the flamingos are back, as are the marabou storks and this waterbuck.
Pelicans
There are also many pelicans here. They share the shoreline with the flamingos (see pink in background), storks and other wildlife that come to drink.
Marabou Stork
Check out the sack hanging from this guy's neck! From a trip to the Nairobi Museum, we found out that they store food in this sack, especially when collecting it to feed their young - that's why some have saggier sacks than others.
White rhino
We got much closer to these guys than we did in the Ngorongoro Crater (see rhino dots in that section). White rhinos are not really white - they differ from their black cousins in that the white ones have square mouths - go figure.
More white rhinos
There are about 14 white rhinos at Lake Nakuru. We were fortunate enough to see over half of them. These 2 were grazing together.
Flamingos
There are large sections of this lake that are pink with flamingos. Didn't see the Pink Panther though.
African Buffalo
Lake Nakuru is also the watering hole for the usual wild suspects that we came to Africa to visit. This African Buffalo family came for a drink - note the calf.
Unitentified Hawk
We spotted this guy resting in a tree. He's some sort of a hawk but we couldn't make a positive ID from George's book. Where's Robert when you need him?
Giraffes
These majestic creatures tend to graze in groups. This is not an uncommon pose to find them in - I guess that they watch eachothers backs.
They eat from the prickly but shapely acacia trees and are probably responsible for pruning the acacia into their striking shapes. Their only natural predator is the leopard. Leopards like to climb trees and can occasionally surprise an unwhitting giraffe. Lions don't prey on giraffes - a good swift kick from a giraffe has been known to kill a lion.
Baboons
These guys are everywhere. We observed this group crossing a 'road' in Lake Nakuru. The young one got tired and jumped on, presumably to its mother, for a ride.
Baboons sleep in trees. The females and young climb high while the bigger males stay low to protect the group from predators.
It looks like home!!
Our lodge at Lake Nakuru had a bathroom that was almost like ours at home (no jacuzzi though)! We both enjoyed a long, hot soak before dinner.
|
