Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift
Valley soda lakes at an elevation of 1754 m above sea level. It lies to the
south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya. The surface of the shallow lake
of Nakuru is almost unequivocally pink. The lake's abundance of algae used to
attract a massive myriad quantity of flamingos that famously lined the shore. The
Lake Nakuru is widely regarded as the greatest bird spectacle on earth, millions
of millions flamingos gathered here to seek food, feed on the abundant
blue-green algae which thrive in the warm alkaline waters, with their high soda
content caused by intense evaporation in the burning African sun. The countless
flamingoes on the lake Nakuru are varying depending on the water and food
conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Cliff. Researchers believe
that countless flamingo population at Nakuru can consume as much as 500 tons of
algae every day.
Lake Nakuru National Park is 188 km2, created
in 1961 around Lake Nakuru, is mainly famous for its thousands, sometimes
millions of flamingos nesting along the shores, however, around the lake fenced
off as a sanctuary to protect giraffes, black and white rhinos, warthogs,
baboons and other large mammals. There are two types of flamingo species; the
lesser flamingo can be illustrious by its deep red carmine bill and pink
plumage unlike the greater, which has a bill with a black tip. In 1961, the
Lake Nakuru National Park was created around the lake to protect this
spectacle. Yet, conservationists are increasingly concerned that pollution from
local industries could be causing the flamingo population at Lake Nakuru to
fall. Nakuru means "Dust or Dusty Place" in the Maasai language, and
lake is famous for its surrounding mountainous vicinity, but has since been
extended to include a large part of the savannahs.
The flamingoes naturally feed
with their long necks bent down and their bills upside down in the water, using
their tongues to pump in and out to suck in the salty, alkaline water and mud.
Filters in the bill catch the microscopic algae floating in the water, as well
as the small shrimps which give them their pink color. Moreover, the park also
has large sized pythons that inhabit the dense woodlands, and can often be seen
crossing the roads or dangling from trees. The huge amount of flamingos has
been declining recently, maybe due to too much tourism, pollution resulting
from industries waterworks nearby who dump waste into the waters or simply
because of changes in water quality which makes the lake temporarily
inhospitable. Typically, the lake recedes during the dry season and floods
during the wet season.