Lakes Bogoria, Baringo and Nakuru in Kenya

The waters of several Kenyan lakes in the Great Rift Valley have been rising and in the process flooding many hotels, farms and residences.  Thousands of people have been flooded out of their homes and many businesses have lost their livelihoods. 

The flooding follows many months of unusually heavy rain but illegal deforestation and climate change also contribute to the problem.  What is happening is very alarming and threatens not only the people but the wildlife.

Lake Baringo is freshwater and Bogoria is salt water. At one time these lakes were one about 12.5 miles (20 kms) apart but now are so close together that experts fear they could contaminate each other and further threaten wildlife and the people.  The lakes have risen at least 30-40 feet and are rising daily.

Even Lake Nakuru adjacent to which Kenya's 3rd largest city, Nakuru is situated, is flooding.  I read from one tourist who said that the Baboon Point I showed you about a week ago (see this post) shows that 75% of the park has been flooded. This seems totally unreal to me.

Attacks on people by crocodiles and hippos have escalated, many schools and hospital have been flooded or cut off from their student and patient groups and wildlife has had food supply affected.

Given the back drop of all this sad news it makes my memories and my photos all the more important to me. I may never get another chance to enjoy and experience what I enjoyed in earlier trips.  Many of the pelicans and flamingos have disappeared from the lakes and I'm not sure where they have gone.

Here is a video for those interested in seeing the rising lakes. In the first few minutes you will see a huge building with thatched roof. That is the Soi Lodge located on the shores of Lake Baringo and where I stayed when I visited the area.

This is a photo toward the lake from the Soi Lodge.

 

I was greeted by ostriches at the entry to the lodge.

 

Here are a few photos of pelicans taken at Lake Baringo and the last photo of flamingos was taken at Lake Nakuru.  I had never seen flamingos or pelicans before and it was a real treat.

I am linking with Eileen and others at Saturday's Critters.

 

If you missed my Skywatch Friday post, click here.

Rhinos and Baboons

These photos are from my archives and were taken in Nakuru, Kenya, East Africa. 

The first photo  was taken from the north side of Lake Nakuru on a return trip to see the Menengai Crater.  You get a glorious view of the lake as you approach the city from the north.  I will try to share photos of my visit to the crater in another post. Today's post is about Lake Nakuru and the wildlife park situated there.

 

The next view of the lake is from Baboon Cliff Point in Lake Nakuru Provincial Park.  The point is situated on the western side of Lake Nakuru and the views from the top are fantastic.  It's one of my favourite spots in the park.  The name derives from the fact that so many baboons are living in this particular area of the park.

I'm only sharing two of the photos of the baboons. There were so many baboons and they are quite mischievous. They will enter your car and take things if you are not keeping a close watch.  The monkeys do the same.

Here you can see baboons climbing all over the parked cars.

The rhinos in the next two photos were an awesome site. These rhinos are called black rhinos though the colour can range from brown to grey.  The World Wildlife Fund for Nature Kenya  has been working with the government and other organizations and people of goodwill, to save the black rhinos from poaching and loss of habitat and so the population has more than doubled over the past 25 years.  You can read more about black rhino conservation needs and efforts here. Sadl, the Northern White Rhino is virtually extinct. Just over a year ago, Kenya harvested the eggs of the two last white female rhinos in the northern part of the country.  They are hoping to fertilize them with the sperm of the last male white rhino that died in Sudan in March 2018.  You can read more about white rhinos here.

I took a little time to see many wild animals both in zoos and in their natural habitat while I've been on missions trips to the very poor in Kenya.  I feel so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see many of these wonderful creatures in their natural habitat.  My hope is that through the good will and good work of people in Kenya and around the globe, these majestic creatures will not go extinct while we can still do something to save them. The largest threats to their survival are poaching and loss of habitat.  If you love wild animals please consider a gift to those that work in conservation.  If, like me, you are interested in alleviating the suffering of the very poor who barely eke out a living, kindly read more at the various links on the side bar and consider being a change maker along with me. During this global pandemic they are suffering even  more than usual.

I hope you enjoyed this brief post on Kenyan wildlife. I'm joining up with Eileen's, Saturday's Critters meme today.  Please come and visit this space again soon.

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.

Pink Flamingoes Enjoy the Lake

As a child I remember wanting to visit the state of Florida.  I was fascinated by the state since it was home to the unique and delightful pink flamingos.

 I attribute my fascination with the birds to the fact that I grew up in a part of the country where winter season was from early November to the end of April.  This meant we had snow for fully half a year and much of that time was very cold.  I dreamt of  tropical climates, palm trees and an exotic lifestyle.  In my very limited life experience, pink flamingos seemed to fit into the fantasy.

Flamingos are showy birds in that they are tall, have a gloriously coloured beak, long pink legs, a gracefully curved neck and pink plumage. We didn't have such wonderfully coloured birds in my part of the world.  These characteristics would not serve the bird in my part of the world because of the lack of good camouflage.

 Years later I managed to make my way to Florida but by this time had forgotten about pink flamingos and my time in Florida was very brief.   I  was only in Miami to transfer to points south and not for sightseeing.  The best I could do was get to the beach front for a short time.  That turned out to be a bit of scary experience (perhaps a story for another day).

At last when years later I made it to Kenya, East Africa, the pink flamingos were there to greet me at Lake Nakuru.  They were breathtaking especially since there were just so many of them. My pictures do not do justice to the sheer number of them.

I hope you enjoy these beautiful birds as much as I do.

I believe these particular flamingos are called the Lesser Flamingo.

You can learn more about the flamingo here.

Participating in Wild Bird Wednesday.



Have a look there for more beautiful birds.

Following the Winding Road

Thank you to my newest followers:  Ray Lindsey of the Forgotten Vet,  Kay L. Davies and  Rhonda , who is back :-) Welcome everyone.
I encourage my regular readers to check out their blogs by clicking on their names.

We follow a long and winding road under a beautiful sky.  The road leads toward Lake Nakuru, Kenya from the Menengai Crater.

Click here to see more wonderful skies around the globe.

Pelicans Seem to Float on Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Pelicans on Lake Nakuru, Kenya.
I say they seem to float. Or perhaps their little feet are paddling away under the water.

Click on the widget and see more Watery Wednesday entries.