Safari no.2 was to Lake Nakuru National Park. I thought I should mention that the word 'safari' actually means journey. But obviously has been popularised to refer to game drives so we will go with that! This one started with getting up at 4:30 a.m. The plan was to beat the traffic and get to the view point in time to enjoy the scenery before heading on . You will see why this is simply a must do!! Lake Nakuru National Park is about 160 km away from Nairobi .So roughly 31/2 hours to get to and therefore an early start is advised especially if you plan to get back on the same day.
John was our guide for the day and he picked us up early and set off . We managed to beat the traffic and use back lanes and finally we fell upon this wonder and stopped at the view point.
The beauty that is the Great Rift Valley cannot be explained .It just has to be experienced . The photos definitely do not do it justice!
The locals were only too happy to give us a bit more detail about the valley . It runs from the Middle East to Africa and is simply spectacular bordered by escarpments and a lovely backdrop of Savannah and various lakes. There are a couple of volcanoes and some are still active and result of this can be seen if you get to visit Lake Bogoria . You can actually boil an egg in the water!!
We bought a few souvenirs and half heartedly headed off , i would have been happy to sit there all day and marvel at the beauty that it is.Its GREAT for a reason . Soon we arrived at Lake Nakuru National Park which is best known for its flamingoes but boy were we in for a suprise.
It had been raining rather heavily over the past few days and as a result , the water levels had risen to such huge amounts flooding the area and forcing the flamingos to migrate to Lake Baringo.(Nearby Lake that is also worth a trip) . I have to say that though it was sad to see the state of the lake site ,the view was breath-taking
It almost felt like a scene from walking dead!!I just couldn't take my eyes off it! It looked unreal!!
We however had to make a move on and so headed to the park side. We managed to see a couple of wildlife and it was just amusing how they pretty much posed for a shot and then went on with their business
Lake Nakuru National park was known for its white rhinos but the number has considerably gone down owing to poaching !! The recent #worthmorealive campaign aimed at elephant (which we didn't get to see either owing to the same) should cover them as well. We got a glimpse of ones back as it was well hidden among the shrubs .
I will point out though that Kenya hosts the remaining 3 Northern white rhinos in the world. Last I checked there were 2 female and 1 male left at the Ol Pejeta conservancy . It's a shame that they are going extinct and if you can get the chance , do give them a visit and support the conservancy . It is in Nanyuki and plenty of beautiful views as well. Below is Sharon Mundia aka @thisisess (a Kenyan blogger I will be featuring soon on her visit at the conservancy. You could read more on her blog - http://www.thisisess.com/2015/06/the-wild-side.html)
We then headed out and caught glimpses of several other wildlife . Again , it's refreshing seeing them out in the wild without a care in the world..I would have bet this guys were having a meeting!
Interesting to note , you are not allowed to blare your horn of the animals are crossing the road or are in the way. You are on their habitat so you have to wait for them to get past at their own pace . # respect
We then set off for hell's gate!Another must visit ..you'll see why on the NEXT BLOG!!
P.S . In my last safari I forgot to mention the visit to the ivory burning site. This is currently a heated topic with the #jointheherd and #worthmorealive campaign to reduce poaching . I love that both campaigns involved a lot of young people and that obviously made it easier to spread the message as they took on social media to make the public aware of their support. @susanLUCKYWONG and @thisisess below were involved first hand. And then there was me..:-)
The bone of contention (horn even) is whether the government should continue burning the recovered tusks . The last heap that was set on fire was about 10 ft high and worth £68 million!!!! This policy of burning ivory dates back to Moi era when he burned the first lot of about 10 tonnes of elephant tusks Would you believe that!?? Question is, has the burning reduced on the demand or the poaching ? Do let me know what you think.
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Proudly Kenyan!
xoxo
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