My Kenyan Holiday: Visit to Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru

There are some experiences that stay etched in your memory forever, for me it was my eight-day adventure in Kenya. The country is not only known for it endangered wildlife but is also a photographer’s dream come true, with nature as your model.

My Kenyan holiday started with Kenya Airways and sipping on Tusker, the country’s local beer. Landing in the land of the Big 5, I arrived in Nairobi at the crack of dawn. It took me precisely 15 minutes to clear immigration, get my visa on arrival (absolute joy!) and bags. Everything was hassle free and smooth: a sign of things to come.

James, my driver and guide picked me up and off we were. En route, he gave me a deep insight into the Great Rift Valley region and we stopped at a point that overlooked the crater region on the valley. The view was magnificent. The valley was huge with dormant volcano mountains in the background. We reached our first spot, which was the biggest lake in the Great Rift Valley region,  Lake Naivasha. The lake is so expansive that it has an island in the middle where the famous movie Out of Africa was shot.

On arrival, we had a local Passion Fruit drink to refresh ourselves before heading to the bank of the lake to get a sense of the vastness of the lake and see the different birds  that habitat there. After this visual treat, we took an hour-long boat ride on the lake. All through our ride, we saw lots of birds like cormorants, pink backed pelicans, jacana, but the ones I remember most vividly were the flamingoes. Beautiful!  We also saw a herd of hippos basking on the banks of the lake without a care in the world.

We got off on the island in the middle of the lake and saw a variety of wildlife including wildebeest, zebra, water hog, deer and other wild animals.

We returned for  lunch at Lake Naivasha Country Club, which is on the lake itself. Vegetarians worried about what they’d get to eat but there were no problems at all. The food was delicious with a variety of vegetables served. After a scrumptious meal, James and I headed to our next destination, Lake Nakuru. On the way, we saw Cape buffalo, which I was told that unlike its Indian counterpart, is ferocious and its horns are capable of destroying a tree in seconds.

Surrounded by Lion Peak, which is named because lions made this range their home, my stay for the night was at Sarova Lion Hill Game Lodge. If you arrive here in the dark, it may seem like you’re in the middle of nowhere. But daylight, brings with it views of the lake and park that are spectacular.

Early in the morning the next day, I headed out on a game drive in Lake Nakuru National Park. Famous for its large population of flamingoes, I got a chance to see them all around me. Along with these birds, I also saw baboons, deer, zebras and ostriches. I was really hopping to spot the Big 5, which are the lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros but managed to spot  only the Cape buffalo, rhino and lion. I wasn’t complaining though. It was a delight to see animals roam freely in their natural habitat. To add to it, I saw a family of rhinos including a baby that was probably a few months old!

While ending our game drive, I spotted a lioness sitting on the branch of a tree and lazing around. What amazed me was that she was least bothered with a bunch of us staring at her.  She made me feel like the paparazzi as she posed for pictures endlessly. This was the really a perfect ending to my trip to Lake Nakuru National Park.