Visit the Lake Nakuru and The Rift Valley Lakes in Kenya

LAKE NAKURU AND THE RIFT VALLEY LAKES

- Lake Nakuru and the Rift Valley Lakes -

Stretching from Lebanon to Mozambique, Africa’s Great Rift Valley is a 6,000-mile crack in the earth’s crust, and much of it is to be found in Kenya. As a result, it comes as no surprise that Kenya is home to many impressive volcanoes and more than half of the lakes in Africa. The landscapes created because of this dramatic fault are truly spectacular. The lake region is dotted with imposing basaltic cliffs such as the one in Hells Gate National Park, as well as classic East African landscapes of open savannah amidst volcanic outcrops and strung with beautiful lakes.

With its almost mystical appearance, Lake Nakuru is an enduringly popular fixture on Kenya’s safari circuit. Due to its high algae content, Nakuru emerged as one of the favourite breeding grounds for flamingos. Famous for a long time for its concentrations of up to two million flamingos, scientises are observing a shift in the lake’s salinity levels and algae population since 2014 which is driving the beautiful birds to migrate to some neighbouring lakes such as Lake Bogoria, Naivasha, Baringo and Elementaita.

But even without flamingos, Nakuru is well worth the visit, as a game reserve was created surrounding the lake and is now an important stronghold for black rhino, white rhino and Rothschild’s giraffe, lion and hyena. While large mammals are less prolific than in parks likes the Masai Mara or Amboseli, a visit to the lake district will compliment a Masai Mara safari very well, as you will discover entirely new, and gorgeously dramatic landscapes.

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Freshwater Lake Naivasha, only 90km northwest of Nairobi, provides superb bird-watching (resident birders boast of ticking off 100 species before breakfast). Since it has replaced Lake Nakuru as the favourite flamingo hotspot, this is now the best spot to experience one of Kenya’s most famous images, a vibrant expanse of rose and fuchsia covering the entire lake during flamingo season.

In addition to that, Lake Naivasha is also a stunning Kenyan safari destination. Cross the lake with a boat trip to Crescent Island and watch in awe as large numbers of hippo seemingly float in the water around you. Once at Crescent Island, embark on a stunning bush walk amongst giraffe, buffalo and waterbuck.

If you are travelling Kenya by road, Naivasha and Nakuru have the benefit of being the perfect overnight stop to break up the drive between Nairobi and the Masai Mara.

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Each region is unique!

Click on the different regions below to find out more about the unique beauty each offers, and when the best time is to visit.

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- Best time to visit Lake Nakuru -

Spring (November - December): The lake region is one of Kenya’s rare regions which is more impressive during the rainy season, as this is when the flamingos arrive. The lake is well watered, and there is an abundance of food to sustain the massive colonies of up to 1.5 million flamingos. However, in drier months, especially during droughts, the pink flocks move north of Lake Nakuru to another famous flamingos' feeding ground – Lake Bogoria, where these birds can be observed year-round.

Summer (January - March): As with spring, summer is a beautiful season to go to Lake Nakuru for flamingo watching as these stunning birds usually stay from November to April. There cannot be any guarantee of course, as the majority of the birds are very migratory and will head to the lake that offers the highest quantity of algae based on seasonal rain variations, which is almost impossible to predict from one year to the next, however at The Travel Cafe we keep our fingers on the pulse of such changes to design an African itinerary best-suited to your unique dreams and desires.

Winter (June - October): While it is unlikely that you will find flamingos at Lake Nakuru during winter, let’s not forget that Nakuru is a beautiful park, home to rhino lion, giraffe, hyena and so forth and that winter offers perfect safari conditions. With that in mind, winter is also a great time to visit Lake Nakuru, and provides wonderful contrast to the rest of the Kenya safari circuit.

Autumn (April - May): April and May bring the long rains, with torrential continuous downpours and muddy washed-out roads. At The Travel Cafe, we consider it our least favourite season to go to Lake Nakuru. One upside is that the rains do rejuvenate the grasses and creates fresh rainwater sources for the animals as they cannot drink from the soda lake of Nakuru due to the high alkaline levels.