Kenya - Lake Nakuru National Park Travel pictures from Kenya by Günther Eichhorn

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Lake Nakuru National Park, is located about two hours drive north of Nairobi. It is one of the soda lakes in the Great Rift Valley. It is home to a large variety of birds, as well as large animals, including African Buffaloes (Syncerus caffer), White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), and a few Hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius).

The word "White" in the name "White Rhinoceros" is a mistranslation of the Dutch word "weit" for wide, referring to its square upper lip, as opposed to the pointed lip of the Black Rhinoceros. And the Black Rhino isn't really black, it is grey.

White Rhinos eat grasses. They tend to be more in the open grasslands. Black Rhinos browse on leaves and are more reclusive, found mostly in wooded areas. I saw only white rhinos.

There are predators in the park, but I didn't see any. But seeing rhinos was much more important for me, I had seen enough lions and leopards in Maasai Mara and Serengeti, and on a previous trip to the Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Lake Nakuru is especially know for its flamingo population. It also has a large population of pelicans. Unfortunately, most of the flamingos were at Lake Elmenteita, a second soda lake a few kilometers to the south, so I saw only a fairly small number of them.

It is a small National Park, but very interesting to visit, especially because of the rhinos and the flamingos.

Large animals

African Buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) and Grant's Zebras (Equus quagga boehmi). (644k)	View of Lake Nakuru National Park. with African Buffalo, Grant's Zebra, and Marabou Stork. In the right front is the carcass of a buffalo. On the right are Yellow Fever Trees (Acacias). (618k)	Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus). (753k)	Warthog. (728k)	Thomson's Gazelles (Eudorcas thomsoni, with black stripes) in front of Lake Nakuru. (570k)
Grant's Gazelle male (Nanger granti). (910k)	Close-up of Grant's Gazelle male. (924k)	Impala herd (Aepyceros melampus) (808k)	Impala harem, with the male guarding the females. (605k)	Male Impala. He was the leader of his harem. (848k)
Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa). (630k)	Defassa Waterbuck. (935k)	Defassa Waterbuck. (718k)	Close-up of a Grant's Zebra (Equus quagga boehmi). (541k)	Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). (561k)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis). (741k)	Black-backed Jackals (Canis mesomelas). (444k)	Male African Buffaloes (Syncerus caffer). (527k)	Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) with Yellow-billed Storks (Mycteria ibis). (504k)	Rothschild Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi). They can be distinguished from the Masai Giraffe by the white knee socks. (512k)
Rothschild Giraffe. (910k)	Rothschild Giraffe. (741k)	Rothschild Giraffe. (744k)	Close-up of Rothschild Giraffe. (496k)	White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). (403k)
White Rhinos and African Buffalo resting in the shade. (543k)	White Rhino. (558k)	White Rhino. (786k)	Close-up of White Rhino. (626k)

Birds

Pelicans circling. (394k)	Pelicans in flight with two jackals. (584k)	White-browed Robin-Chat (Cossypha heuglini). (585k)	Juvenile Crowned Lapwing (Vanellus coronatus). (597k)	Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis). (546k)
Hovering Pied Kingfisher. (507k)	Some water fowl. (501k)	Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus). (587k)	Madagascar Bee-eater (Merops superciliosus). (462k)	Probably a starling. (487k)
Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus). (569k)	Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea). (345k)	This is either a Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) or a Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus ). My guide said Ibis, to me it looks like a stork. Unfortunately my guide was not very good with birds, so I am not sure. (397k)	White Stork (Ciconia ciconia). This is a migrant from Europe (see Hungary and Poland). (557k)	White Stork. (418k)
Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis). (636k)	Yellow-billed Stork. (599k)	Yellow-billed Stork. (510k)	Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus). (514k)	Close-up of a Marabou Stork. (463k)
Pelicans on Lake Nakuru. They are mostly Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), some are Pink-backed Pelican (Pelecanus rufescens). (629k)	Great White Pelicans on Lake Nakuru (609k)	Great White Pelicans in flight. (431k)	Great White Pelican in flight. (403k)	Great White Pelicans marching. (603k)
Great White Pelicans. They were flapping their wings in the water, presumably to clean. (566k)	Pink-backed Pelican. (557k)	Great White Pelicans. (639k)	View of Lake Elmenteita with thousands of flamingos. (415k)	Flamingos on Lake Nakuru. The first row are Lesser Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), behind them are Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor). In front are some wading birds. (408k)
Flamingos on Lake Nakuru. The first row are Lesser Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus), behind them are Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor). (370k)	Greater Flamingos on Lake Nakuru. (367k)	Greater Flamingos on Lake Nakuru. (411k)	White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus). (478k)	African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer). (414k)
Birds feeding on a carcass. (735k)

Miscellaneous

Extinct volcano in the Great Rift Valley between Nairobi and Lake Nakuru. (427k)	View of Lake Nakuru (470k)	Yellow fever trees (Acacia xanthophloea). (521k)	Umbrella acacia (Acacia tortilis). (456k)	Euphorbia candelabrum. (606k)
Flamboyant Tree (Delonix regia). (730k)	Flower (536k)

All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn

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