KENYAN ATTRACTIONS

LAKE BOGORIA

Lake Bogoria really is untamed beauty - a co-ordinated sea of blue and vivid pink, set dramatically at the foot of Laikipia Escarpment - right in the sweltering deserts north of Nakuru, at an altitude above 1,000 m.

Apart from its superb geographic location, outstanding features include its famous geysers - spectacular displays of superheated water, bubbling up out of its natural underground rock cauldrons and its shoreline which plays host to countless thousand of flocks of shocking pink flamingoes. The surrounding national park is also the perfect habitat to an unusual handsome antelope - herds of Greater Kudu.

LAKE BARINGO

Of all the lakes in the Great Rift only two are freshwater and Baringo's climate - being furthest north, is extremely hot and arid. But for the ornithologists, Baringo is a dream come true - with perhaps the highest tally of species sighted in Kenya.

Included is Verreaux's Eagle, the rare Bristle-crowned Starling and Hemprich's Hornbill, but the list is too numerous to do it justice here. The central island is also home to the largest nesting colony of Goliath Herons in East Africa.

LAKES NAKURU & ELEMENTAITA

Apart from the shallow alkaline waters of the lake - a favourite habitat of migrating flamingos and resident cormorants - Lake Nakuru National Park and its varied terrain is rich in wildlife; a few Lions, Leopards, Rhino, herds of Buffalo, Rothschild's Giraffe and Zebras. Just 12 km away lies Lake Elementaita part of the Delamere Soy-sambu Estate.

Elementaita's deeper waters are reckoned to be a more reliable habitat for sighting Flamingoes. Hundreds of bird species have been recorded in the area, from Pelicans, Black Winged Stilts, Avocets to the winter guest list, that includes a mass of Ruffs.

LAKE TURKANA

Known alternatively as the Jade Sea, the blue-green waters of this enormous 185 miles long soda lake support huge numbers of giant Nile Perch, the ferocious Tiger Fish and the latest community of Nile Crocodiles - around 12,000 on Central Island. Over 350 species of birdlife have been sighted and include numbers of Flamingo and Pelican.

From its eastern shores the grassy plains of Sibiloi National Park support Zebra, Gazelle, Topi, Oryx and Hartebeest. Lion and Cheetah are also found here. Higher ground provides sanctuary for Elephant and Greater Kudu. Close by is Dr. Leakey's palaeontological site and a museum displaying the remains of pre-historic Elephants.

To the South-East lies Mt. Kulai (2,164m). Here knight-edged lava wastes and petrified forests have preserved fossils discovered by Dr. Leakey which show that this barren wind blown wasteland was once meadow and woodlands. Turkana is home to some of the most venomous reptiles: Cobras, Puff Adders and Saw Scaled Vipers. There are no lodges or tourist facilities in this area.

LAKE NAIVASHA

The highest and purest of the Great Rift's Lakes, this shimmering pearl, is best appreciated whilst en-route, before descending the Rift's eastern escarpment.

It sits in the shadow of volcanic cones, Mts. Longonot and Suswa and is immense - being almost 13 km in length and covering some 110 sq km.During the 1930's and 1940's the lake and it's hotel were an early 'Nairobi BOAC airbase' for the flying boats.

Today upwards of 600 species can be appreciated in the serenity of this lake with take-offs rather more glorious. Along its shoreline are Waterbuck, Gazelle and Hippo. The deepest part of the lake is framed by Crescent Island, a game sanctuary.

LAKE VICTORIA

Olambwe Valley Game Reserve skirts the eastern end of Lake Victoria at Homa Bay district of Kenya’s Nyanza Province.

This reserve of just 194 sq km comprising rolling savannah and open woodland was created to preserve the Roan Antelope. Other mammals include Jackson's Hartebeest and Oribi. Some rare bird species also frequent the area.

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