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.

Pelicans at Lake Bogoria

Recently, I've been featuring the beautiful Soi Safari Lodge and wildlife around Lake Baringo, Kenya.

Today I begin featuring the area around Lake Bagoria, Kenya. This lake is one of the least visited lakes of the Rift Valley in Kenya and is located about 60 miles north of the city of Nakuru.

Don't be deceived by the seemingly short distance. It will take you longer than 1 hour's drive to get there but you will get to see a lot of the countryside during the drive.

If you go, I recommend you take a tour from one of the hotels or get the hotel to help you hire a driver for the day. You might also choose to stay at one or more of the hotels in the general area.

This lake is home to a hot springs (more about that in another post) and to various birds like the lesser flamingo which I featured in an earlier post.

On this day I was interested in the pelicans which seemed to congregate in a more secluded section of the lake, away from the tourists and flamingos.

It was a real treat to see these pelicans peacefully floating on the water in small groups.

Joining in with Wild Bird Wednesday today.