Colette's Grand Detour

Day 3 (30th July 2025)

Today we drove to Lake Nakuru where we will be staying for 2 nights at the Sarova Lion Hill Lodge in the National Park. Lake Nakuru is part of a chain of lakes within the Kenyan Rift Valley that have formed due to tectonic activity along the East African Rift. There are a total of 8 lakes, of which 3 (including Nakuru) are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites due their outstanding beauty and incredible bird biodiversity.

Lake Nakuru is historically a saline lake because it has no outflow to the sea. Water flows in from rainfall and rivers but only escapes via evaporation resulting in the concentration of salts and minerals over time. This is known as a closed or endorheic basin. Because of its shallow level and salinity this used to attract huge flocks of flamingos to the area who fed on the algae.

Recently however the lake has been becoming less saline and physically larger because of more freshwater flowing into it as a result of a) shifts in climate patterns that have led to increased rainfall and b) land use changes in the region that have meant that there is increased runoff and erosion into the lake. Basically evaporation can’t keep up with the amount of water arriving and thus the saltiness of the lake has diluted and the lake has become a lot bigger. We saw this for ourselves with big sections of dead acacia trees now sitting 10-15 metres in the lake itself, creating an eerie atmosphere.

So as a result of a less saline lake…the flamingoes have flocked elsewhere. Luckily however, the park is still teaming with wildlife. From the lodge we drove out along the edge of the river eventually turning inland for a little while before looping back to the lake. And we saw absolutely tons of wildlife as well as beautiful lakeside scenery and the surrounding hills covered by acacia trees. I won’t talk about every animal we saw today as a) that would result in a horribly long post and b) I’ve got 2 weeks of safari so we have plenty of time to cover each animal in detail! What I’ll do today is talk about a few of today’s favorite sightings.

First up are the acacia trees which are everywhere in the park and so majestic. The most common one in the area has a smooth pale-yellow bark that in the right light looks like it is glowing. They have a number of survival mechanisms to ensure they are not eaten too much including long and sharp thorns and the release of bitter-tasting tannins. Giraffes have cleverly evolved to consume the leaves of the acacia tree and it’s their favorite food. They are obviously tall so have the immediate height advantage to get to the branches that tower over the landscape. They have very long prehensile (capable of grasping or holding things) tongues that can get to the leaves and strip them off of the thorny branches without hurting themselves. And finally they navigate the bitter tannins by not overgrazing on a single tree and moving on quickly between trees and having a special type of saliva that can neutralize the tannins. So the relationship between the acacia and the giraffe is complex and symbiotic.

We saw a number of the beautiful Rothschild giraffes walking down the dirt track we were driving along. We briefly had a standoff where neither our truck nor the giraffe moved, which was brilliant for us and let us take our time taking photos. At the same time we were in an area full of grazing zebra and relaxing herds of water buffalo so it was quite a magical scene. Eventually our standoff ended and the giraffe gracefully passed us with its unique pacing gait.

Giraffe are a virtually silent animal. Which you don’t really think about until one has passed you within a meter’s distance so quietly. They don’t grunt or make calls to each other. To communicate with they rely hugely on body language as well as very low frequency sounds (think infrared) that humans can’t hear.

And final giraffe factoid – a group of giraffes is called a ‘tower’ of giraffes. Unless they are travelling together, in which case its called a’ journey’ of giraffes which I this is great and makes them even more endearing as a species.

The sun was setting and creating amazing colors across the lake as we headed back to the lodge tonight. I can’t wait for tomorrow!