Lake Nakuru

I visited Lake Naivasha, and now regret not having gone onwards to Nakuru. But it's still on my bucket list, and next time I should also make it to Lake Bogoria. When one's companions are locals, the focus is in getting to know, understand, and share in their mundane everyday life experiences, which, although worthwhile in its own right, takes away from having the more usual touristic experiences.

The same happened in Congo where I missed out on visiting the famous Les Rapides, the powerful rapids on the Congo River; and the Nabemba Tower, Brazzaville's 30-storey skyscraper, because I was preoccupied with learning Lingala, the local language, or helping out my friend practice his English; and all this while sampling the local Congolese cuisine with considerable enthusiasm.

About 10,000 years ago, Lake Nakuru, in Kenya, together with neighbouring Lake Elementaita and Lake Naivasha (60 km further south), formed one single, deep freshwater lake that eventually dried up, leaving the three lakes as remnants.

Water levels in Lake Nakuru have since varied considerably, with the lake almost drying up several times over the past 50 years. A significant drop happened in the early 1990s. In 2013, levels again increased rapidly, leading to the migration of many flamingos to Lake Bogoria in search of food supply.

Lake Nakuru is famous for its large populations of flamingos, both greater and lesser flamingos, which are drawn to the lake's algae-rich waters. The number of flamingos at the lake can fluctuate due to water levels and algae availability. Flamingos feed on the algae in the lake, which thrives in the alkaline waters.

Between 2010 and 2020 Lake Nakuru increased in surface area from 40 to 68 square kilometres (15 to 26 sq mi). 677 households, parts of Nakuru town and some National Park areas had been flooded.

Since 2021, there has been an alarming increase in the rising water levels at the lake caused by climate change. This upsurge of water levels led to displacement of animals from the park and destruction of property, submersion of the main entrance gate and other park infrastructure.