Lake Nakuru National Park

About Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park lies on the floor of Kenya's Rift Valley, 156 km north-west of Nairobi, and it is one of the most reliable places in East Africa to see rhino. Both black and southern white rhino live inside its fenced 188 square kilometres, alongside Rothschild's giraffe, lion, leopard and a soda lake that still draws flamingos and pelicans. Few parks pack this much into a single day's drive from the capital. Nakuru became a national park in 1968 and was made Kenya's first government-managed rhino sanctuary in 1987, when poaching had left only a couple of rhinos in the park. The Rothschild's giraffe were brought in from western Kenya in 1977 and have bred well. Kenya Wildlife Service counts around 450 bird species here, and since 2011 the lake has been part of the Kenya Lake System World Heritage Site with Lakes Bogoria and Elmenteita. The flamingo story needs an honest update. Nakuru was once famous for vast pink crowds of lesser flamingos, but the lake rose sharply from about 2010, flooding the old shoreline and diluting the salty water that grows the algae they feed on. Numbers now swing from month to month, and in some seasons most of the flocks are on Bogoria or Elmenteita instead. Come for the rhino and the scenery, and treat a big flamingo gathering as a bonus. The park can be visited all year. The drier months from June to October, and again January to February, give firmer tracks and easier game viewing, while the long rains of April and May make some woodland loops muddy. Birders often prefer the wetter months, when migrant species arrive from Europe and Asia. Most visitors drive from Nairobi, which takes about three hours on the A104, usually with a stop at the Rift Valley viewpoint on the way down the escarpment. Nakuru sits neatly on the road between Nairobi and the Masai Mara, so we usually treat it as a one or two night stop that breaks up that long drive. It also pairs well with Lake Naivasha and Hell's Gate, a short drive back towards Nairobi. A day here is compact. Rhino are often grazing the open grassland near the lake shore in the morning, and the yellow-barked acacia woodland is where guides look for leopard and lions resting through the heat. Baboon Cliff is the classic viewpoint for a mid-morning stop, looking down over the whole lake, and Makalia Falls in the south of the park runs best after rain. For accommodation, Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge, Lake Nakuru Lodge and Flamingo Hill Camp are inside the park, which saves time at the gate and lets you be out on the first drive of the morning. We can also book Lion Hill Lodge, Zomeni Lion Hill Lodge and Lake Nakuru Guest House, and we pick between them on location, budget and how early you want to be at the gate.