Lake Nakuru - Brimming with Birds

 

Lake Nakuru

 

  Lake Nakuru is flooded – it’s at its highest level recorded for the first time in living memory

 

By Rupi Mangat

Email: rupi.mangat@yahoo.com

“The lake is full,” announces Maurine Musimbi, the tourism warden at Lake Nakuru National Park. 

As such it’s brimming with birds of many species.

Lake Nakuru and the other lakes of the Great Rift Valley have baffled scientists and researchers for years. Despite all ends, they survive the pressures of modern age – human increase, deforestation and industrial pollution. But Lake Nakuru is in a legend of its own for its millions of flamingoes that flock to feed when conditions are perfect. When the water level is just right for enough sunlight to filter through it, the lake is a food basket full of algae. But at this point, there’s too much water in the lake and the sun’s rays can’t penetrate deep enough for the algae to reproduce. The ‘pink lake’ is devoid of the lesser flamingoes with only a handful of the greater ones.

But the other feathered species make up for it. Flocks of Yellow–billed storks, African spoonbills, Grey headed gulls, herons, cormorants, different species of kingfishers, ducks and geese are having a ball. We follow the piercing call of the African kingfisher in robes of copper-gold and white mantle. It’s perched high on a tree half submerged in water. On the very edge of the road, the Blacksmith plover sits on its brood of eggs because it’s too wet on the plains. I marvel at the bird’s bravery as a huge tour-van drives only inches away from it. Fairy white egrets and the most beautiful Great white egret forage for insects by the shores. It’s a dream-world out here.

Common zebra in park

“The lake is more than 50 square kilometers and 4.2 meters at its deepest,” tells Samuel Mungai the assistant research technologist at the park.  High up on Baboon Cliff, the lake looks awesome with the contrast of the wild zone and the industrial town in the background. The president’s pavilion, a favourite haunt of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta is invisible in the flooded lake. The baboons are busy as usual, their antics delighting visitors while the rock hyrax prefers to live a quiet life hidden in their rocky abode. Driving down to Makalia Falls, there’s a traffic jam caused by the leopard stretched out on the horizontal branch of a Yellow-fever acacia. He or she is oblivious to the queue waiting to catch a glimpse of it. Pot-bellied zebras and buffaloes cast textures on the plains. “The carrying capacity in the park for the buffaloes is 500,” says Mungai. “But at this point we have 4,000.”

On the far end of the park, Makalia Falls thunder down the cliffs. A pair of buffalos lounges on its banks happy with the muddy spa and further down the road, a pair of white rhinos graze in the eventide.

Mungai on his morning patrol saw a maneless lion on a tortilis tree. The tree makes a nice picture with its huge canopy set in a wide field. Approaching it slowly, the cat’s hidden in its branches and then he faces us with his tawny eyes boring into ours. “It’s the same kind as the man-eaters of Tsavo,” says Mungai. “They were maneless too.”

Fact File

Makalia Falls

Lake Nakuru National Park is 150 kms from Nairobi. Get your Smart card from Nairobi KWS HQ and load it at the same time.

You can camp at Makalia Falls which is very picturesque or by the main gate or take the special campsite, Nderit which has been voted the best campsite in Kenya. Or stay at the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya banda which sleeps four – it has all the amenities – just carry food to cook. It’s cheap and cheerful with lions and the old leopard seen regularly by the fence – call Fadhili Mwachitu on 020 2671555/6

Or stay at the WCK guest house - call Eric Mbaraki - 0710 579944/020 2671742 or 020 2671742.

If budgets not a constraint, head to the lodges in the park.

Published in Nation newspaper Saturday magazine 20 October 2012