Lake Nakuru sits inside a compact, fenced park in Kenya's Rift Valley, ringed by wooded cliffs and grassland. The lake's water level and salinity shift from year to year, which affects the algae that draws flamingos, but the park stays reliable for rhino, and its small size makes for an easy add-on to a longer itinerary.
Wildlife
- •Both black and white rhino, protected within the park's perimeter fence
- •Flamingos, in numbers that vary with the lake's water chemistry year to year
- •Rothschild's giraffe, introduced here as a sanctuary population
- •Lion and leopard, denning in the cliffs and euphorbia forest above the lake
Best Time to Visit
June to September
Dry season. Roads are firm throughout the park and rhino tend to stay out in the open grassland.
January to March
Warm and mostly dry, with good conditions for viewing the lake shore and surrounding cliffs.
April to May
The long rains. The lake often rises and flamingo numbers become harder to predict.
