We had 1 day to spare before starting our B1G1 Study Tour and so decided to make the 2.5 hours drive to Lake Nakuru National Park & be back in time for the Welcome Dinner arranged by Paul & Masami of B1G1.

The reason we decided to make this dash, was that we did not see a Rhino or Leopard (and only half a Lion) at on our Safari in Amboseli and were told it was unlikely we would see Rhino in the Maasai Mara (another Safari we are doing in two weeks time). So we thought it would be worth the (very long) day trip from Nairobi.

It was a beautiful drive through the Great Rift Valley which is surrounded by wooded and bushy grassland. Our driver recommended a stop at Lake Elementaita as apparently all the Flamingo had migrated here away from Lake Nakuru. Which was true, but we were slightly annoyed that we then had to pay an additional park fee to see them.

This lake has about 400 species of birds. They include both the Greater and Lesser flamingos as well as fishing birds such as pelicans and herons.

Then it was a short 15min drive to Lake Nakuru National Park and guess what? We saw Rhino!!

Lake Nakuru is a small National Park, 188 sq. Km. So it’s quite easy to get around most of it in 1 day. Our only wish for the day was to spot the Rhino’s and we saw two within 30min of entering the park and later in the day managed to spot a small group of Rhino.

Rhinos are known to charge at vehicles so being that close meant having to be slightly cautious, but that should go without saying.

Lake Nakuru has the added benefit of being very scenic.

Surrounded on three sides by steep hills that are heavily forested in parts, and the beautiful lake itself, makes it a great destination for a Kenyan safari.

We had no expectation to see Lion’s as had imagined that we would see them on our next Safari in the Maasai Mara, but then out of nowhere, we say this huge male walking right towards our van. He walked right down the road, past our vehicle (within 1 metre) and kept walking down the road. All the vehicles stopped and he didn’t pay us any attention at all. Absolutely incredible! (And partly sad, that he was this comfortable around the cars).

It had been an outstanding day of viewing animals. We saw more Zebra, Wilderbeast, Hippo, Buffalo as well as an aray of birds. We were getting concerned about the time it may take to get back to Nairobi so our driver attempted a short cut down a road that had been marked ‘closed’.

He was a little nerve-wrecking as parts of the road had been flooded and we had two very close calls as we travelled won this lonely road. Then to our surprise, we spotted this incredible sight… two gorgeous lioness in a tree. Had our vehicle not got a little stuck, I don’t think we would have even spotted them – we could hardly contain our excitement as we took about 300 photos of them. Aren’t they beautiful?

We then quickly moved on and found our way out of the park. An outstanding day – so so pleased we made the trip to Lake Nakuru.