Where to see flamingos in Kenya
Where to see flamingos in Kenya : Lake Nakuru: One of the lakes in the Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru is situated 1,754 metres (5,755 feet) above sea level. It is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park and is located in Kenya’s rift valley to the south of Nakuru. In the Rift Valley, one of the well-known soda lakes is Lake Nakuru. Massive flocks of flamingos from all over the world come to the lake because of its alkalinity.
Flamingos are present throughout the Lake Nakuru coast, giving the lake a pink hue. Flamingos eat the blue algae that is present in Lake Nakuru. Blue-green algae, prawns, and various aquatic insects make up the majority of the diet of flamingos. Since Lake Nakuru is a park and has an abundance of blue-green algae, it is the perfect habitat for flamingos. Flamingos have been forced back into Lake Nakuru in Kenya’s Nakuru National Park as a result of recent heavy rains that have also swamped these lakes.
Nakuru is a Maasai word that means “Dust or Dusty Place.” In 1961, Lake Nakuru National Park, which is near to Nakuru town, was created. It was initially only large enough to include the well-known lake and the mountains nearby, but over time, it expanded to take in a significant portion of the savannahs.
Every time you visit the Nakuru National Park, there is a good chance that you will see some breathtakingly gorgeous pink flamingos relaxing on the shores of Lake Nakuru. This is because these birds are present there throughout the day, months, and years.
Large flocks of flamingos as well as pelicans, who are known to nest close to the banks, are attracted to Lake Nakuru because of its extremely salty environment, which supports an abundance of algae, the main source of food for the birds.
In Africa, there are two types of species:
A lesser flamingo.
Of the five flamingo species, lesser flamingos are the shortest. These birds’ beak, legs, and plumage are all pink. Lesser flamingos appear to have brighter colours than other kinds.
They are under one metre tall, with small heads, and lengthy necks. Flamingo females are smaller than males. In the wild, lesser flamingos can survive for up to 40 to 50 years.
Greater Flamingo
The largest species to be found is the Greater Flamingo. They have a long, slim neck and what appear to be pale pink bills with black tips that bend downward. The majestic wingspan of a greater flamingo ranges from 1.4 to 1.7 metres.
Greater flamingos can live for 30 to 40 years in the wild. These birds prefer warmer, wetter areas. They live close to estuaries and alkaline or saline lakes.
2: Lake Elementaita
One of the key feeding lakes for the Lesser flamingo is Lake Elementaita, a lesser-known “soda lake” or salty lake in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley. The more well-known Lake Nakuru is only a 30-minute drive from this region of spectacular beauty, which is also home to several rare kinds of animals. The private Soysambu Conservancy, which protects endangered Rothschild giraffes, colobus monkeys, elusive predators, and plains wildlife, owns a large portion of the lake. The tufted-eared caracal, golden and striped jackals, as well as several smaller predators, call Lake Elemental home. In the region, more than 450 different bird species have been documented. Great white pelicans, together with lesser and larger flamingos, have the biggest populations.
The lake is home to the majority of Kenya’s black-necked grebes, cape teals, maccoa ducks, great egrets, and the critically endangered great crested grebe.
Lake Bogoria
Kenya’s Lake Bogoria, originally known as Lake Hannington, is a saline, alkaline lake that is located just north of the equator in a volcanic zone south of Lake Baringo. Similar to Lake Nakuru, Lake Elementeita, Lake Magadi, and Lake Logipi to the north, Lake Bogoria is home to one of the greatest populations of lesser flamingos in the world. Lake Bogoria National Reserve has been a protected National Reserve since November 29, 1973, and the lake is a Ramsar site. With a drainage basin of 700 km2, Lake Bogoria is 700 km2 in size, 34 km long, and shallow (approximately 10 m deep). It’s in the county of Baringo.
The Siracho Escarpment and the Kesubo Swamp, both located inside the National Reserve, are notable local features. The lake is renowned for its geysers and hot springs, both inside the lake and along its banks. At least 10 geysers that erupt up to 5 m high can be seen in four different places surrounding the lake. The varying lake levels, which could submerge or expose some geysers, have an impact on the activity of geysers.
At the lake’s northern edge, there are hotels close to the settlement of Loboi. At the southernmost part of the lake, camping is permitted.
Lake Magadi
North of Tanzania’s Lake Natron, in a basin of split volcanic rocks, Lake Magadi is the Kenyan Rift Valley’s southernmost lake. It is widely known for its wading birds, particularly flamingos, and is 80% covered by soda during the dry season.
A graben-formed endorheic basin, Lake Magadi is a saline, alkaline lake that is about 100 square kilometres in size. An illustration of a “saline pan” is the lake. Massive amounts of the mineral trona (sodium sesquicarbonate) precipitate from the lake water, which is a dense sodium carbonate brine. The salt can be up to 40 m thick in some spots. Since there is little surface runoff in this arid area, the lake is primarily refilled by salty hot springs (temperatures up to 86 °C) that discharge into alkaline “lagoons” around the lake borders. The majority of the lake’s hot springs are located along its northern and southern shorelines.
Lake Logipi
At the northernmost point of the dry Suguta Valley on the northern Kenya Rift, there is a salty, alkaline lake called Lake Logipi. The Barrier volcanic complex, a collection of young volcanoes whose most recent eruption occurred in the late 19th or early 20th century, separates it from Lake Turkana. In periods of extreme aridity, saline hot springs that flow on Lake Logipi’s northern shoreline and at Cathedral Rocks on its southern boundary serve to keep water levels stable. The Suguta River, which flows north in the Suguta Valley and occasionally forms a transient lake (Lake Alablab) that merges with Logipi, recharges the lake with water during the rainy season.
Lake Logipi is approximately 6 km broad by 3 km long, with a maximum depth of 3 to 5 m. Its waters are composed of sodium bicarbonate, have a pH range of 9.5 to 10.5 and a salinity range of less than 20 g/L to more than 50 g/L (total dissolved salts). Around its margins, efflorescent salt crusts (trona) are visible. Flamingos usually inhabit salty waters where they feed on plankton and cyanobacteria (Arthrospira spp., formerly known as Spirulina).
After heavy rains in 2020, Lake Turkana grew and flooded Lake Logipi.
