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Day 4 |
Day 4 (Wednesday, 8th November)
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Lesser Flamingo |
Plains Zebra |
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Rothschild's Giraffe |
White Rhinoceros |
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Pied Kingfisher |
Three-banded Plover |
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Little Egret |
Grey-headed Gull |
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Day 4 |
We set off from Treetops at 8:30am
in the pouring rain, with no animals to be seen at either of the water holes,
apart from a trio of Grey-crowned Cranes which had flown in during the night.
Apparently, the heavy rain had been widespread, and we heard that Samburu had
been flooded, bringing to a halt all game drives and even transfers into and
out of the reserve. Once we had picked up our bags from the Outspan Hotel, we
made our way to Lake Nakuru through tracts of broken cloud and rain. Once at
Lake Nakuru reserve, the weather had brightened up somewhat, with little or no
rain throughout the drive. Vervet Monkeys again greeted our arrival through the
gates, which mark the beginning of a 12Km or so track on the South side of the
saline lake, slicing through open grassland bordered by woodland. The myriads
of Lesser Flamingos were expected, but the herds of mammals weren’t. We quickly
passed Plains Zebra and African Buffalo, finding 3 feeding Rothschild’s
Giraffes amongst the bushes and trees. The pair which were closest to us seemed
to be about the same size and age, until one started to suckle from the other.
A pair of White-fronted Bee-eaters was near to the Giraffes. Nearby were both
Grant’s and Thomson’s Gazelles, interspersed by the odd Warthog and troops of
Baboons. After feasting on close views of a pair of White Rhinos, we stopped
the safari bus and walked closer to a selection of the Lesser Flamingos, with
the familiar stench of salty mud all around us. We had almost completed the
South side tour when we passed two feeding Warthogs, which stopped their
culinary foraging as we stopped, and proceeded to have a bit of a battle
instead. We were due to have lunch at the Lake Nakuru Lodge, and as we
approached from the end of the lake, good numbers of Northern Anteater-chats
were encountered, with a Lilac-breasted Roller standing sentinel outside of the
entrance gates.
The final part of the day was
the journey from Lake Nakuru to Lake Naivasha, traversing a wide variety of
roads, from brand new and gleemingly smooth, to some of the worst postholes and
ruts we had yet encountered. We arrived at the Lake Naivasha Country Club at
5pm, and found the comfortable rooms to be set in spacious grounds, which rolled
down to the shores of the lake itself. Walking down to the jetty, we were
immediately overlooked by 3 Rothschild’s Giraffes, but no signs of any of the
African Fish-eagles for which the lake is well known. Many other water birds
were in the vicinity, with pride of place to the Pied Kingfishers fishing from
and above the jetty itself. A small group of Hottentot Teals and a
Yellow-billed Duck were in the water, with Pelicans, mainly White, in the
distance. A mixture of waders were feeding along the mud-fringed shore, with
Three-banded Plovers and Marsh Sandpipers being picked out of the throng. A
group of 4 Hippos made themselves known, wallowing in the water about 50 metres
away. As I approached our room, with the light fading, there was a great deal
of commotion and noise from the two palm trees above, and this turned out to be
a roosting site for Fischer’s Lovebirds.
