Tuesday 17 November 2009

The Rift Valley (Kenya)

We dropped down 1000m into the Rift Valley and stayed at Lake Baringo, a soda lake which is teeming with birdlife. It is the colour of weak tea, due to the flouride in the water from rain runoff from the land. In the morning we took a boat trip along the shore and to one of the islands, a dormant volcano, which reminded me a lot of Rangitoto in its shape and soil/rocks.  It is much hotter here than the altitudes we've been for the past month or so.

The next day we drove through Lake Bogoria National Reserve on the way towards Nairobi.  Lake Bogoria is a salt lake famous for its flamingo population and thermal activity.  There were literally thousands of lesser flamingos in pale pink wading and feeding along the shores of lake, alongside steaming pools, shooting geysers and scavenging Marabou Stork.

We stopped by Lake Naivasha for lunch the following day where we expected to see more flamingo, but instead were met with the sight of hundreds of pelicans...?  This area looks very english, with its farmland and flower hothouses.  They use the lake for irrigation and you can see its current level is several meters shallower (and several hundred meters from its former shoreline).

Then it was a big climb up again to Nairobi.

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