First Sighting
Another early morning was afoot, with breakfast starting at 7am, and tents to be cleared beforehand. This time though we were going to Lake Nakuru National Park. A lot more exciting than getting up early for a long bus ride! Nakuru means “dusty place” in the Masai language, and at times the Park sure lived up to its name!
Thanks tractor! I’m sorry about all the mean things I said about your cousins slowing down traffic in England!
Some weird pale animal at the entrance to the park
The old gate to the park. The increased rain has submerged it
African Cape Buffalo. One of the big 5, and our first spotted species. Kinda far away though
Now featuring Cattle Egret.
Some yellow bird - possibly a Weaver but the photo is not clear enough for Patrick to tell!
An Impala, pretty close too!
A lot more showed up. The males have horns, the females none.
Impala are distinguishable from other Gazelle family members by the M-shaped markings on their hindquarters
Olive Baboons this time. These guys were pretty photogenic!
We actually saw a couple of these guys fighting a bit
Plus this child riding its mother like a horse
At the top of Baboon Cliff, the highest point of the park.
And looking the other way, over the lake. Spot the bird in flight!
That weird pale animal followed us!
Flamingos from afar. It was 50/50 as to whether we’d see them thanks to the previously mentioned water dilution
2 Hippos as well! This one meows really loud when it’s hungry I bet
I do like flying bird photos
A Red Headed Agama Lizard
This one was such a poser
Rock Hyraxes, pretty well camouflaged. There are 4
Now one is scratching like a dog! Apparently they are distant cousins to Elephants!
One final look at the view before descending
Suddenly another Agama Lizard. Even more of a poser than the last, and complete with club tail
“African WiFi”, or Warthog. The WiFi nickname comes from the tail being like an antenna when they run
This is a Gazelle, scratching itself like a dog. Straight horns, and an 11-shaped marking on its hindquarters are its features
Now either screaming or yawning
The elusive Superb Sparrow. We have seen tons, but every time I didn’t have a camera! This photo doesn’t do their metallic turquoise back feathers, not their yellow breast justice
2 Impalas taking
Probably one of the better photos I took today
A Common Zebra, much closer than yesterday as promised
This one did get up eventually. Riding it is a Red Billed Ox Pecker
We actually saw more Zebra earlier, but they were far away
But is it black with white stripes or white with black stripes?!
The part brown one is young
An Auger Buzzard, like yesterday
A male Waterback. They are a last resort for predators because when they get scared their flesh becomes tainted and either tastes bad or becomes poisonous (I didn’t get which)
Female and baby Waterback.
Buffalo are the most dangerous of the big 5 because they are short sighted and have a very good sense of smell, and pretty much attack anything they smell
Told you the baboons were photogenic!
Even when they are shouting
And especially when smiling!
Black Faced Vervet Monkeys. Don’t know what they are looking at
The child is plaiting it’s mother’s back hair
A Glossy Ibis, in a Hammerkop’s nest
White Rhinos from (very) afar
A Saddle Billed Stork, also from afar
A pair of Fish Eagles, one of which is eating a fish!
Some Eland Antelope: the biggest variety found here
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Neighbaline. I am sorry
Greater (pinker) and Lesser (white) Flamingos, and Yellow Billed Stork
Egyptian Geese
A Blacksmith Plover. The birds loved it around this area
A Thompson Gazelle. I’m afraid I did not record it’s defining features
An Ostrich from relatively afar
Those same White Rhinos again, still not too close, but as close as we could get. Black Rhinos eat leaves and have a more beak like mouth, White Rhinos eat grass and have a wider mouth (see below)
Some more Greater Flamingos, Shoebills, and an unidentified wading bird closest to camera
The Ostrich hadn’t moved far, Patrick thought it might have some eggs, but we wouldn’t be able to see them from so far
The White Rhinoceros is supposedly called so because the Black Rhino was discovered first, and the first person to see a White one case in saying “I saw a Rhino with a wide mouth!” And was misheard.
Flamingos in flight
Crested Cranes, also in flight. What is with these birds and flying?!
They are pretty cool looking on the ground though. The national bird of Uganda
Rothschild Giraffes from afar. They have “white socks”
2 Lions! Does that count as a pride? They were hunting a Warthog
The aforementioned Warthog escaped quite easily. You can see the dust it has kicked up
It spotted that weird pale creature! Hope they won’t go for that next...
Turns out Lions are pretty lazy
It started to rain like crazy. Some very spooky views over the savannah. It’s not even Halloween yet
These falls would’ve been a prime habitat for that pale creature were it not chucking it down
A closer Rothschild Giraffe. This is their original habitat apparently, and any seen elsewhere have been relocated
4 of them in this one. You can just about see the socks of the front 2
Breakfast was excellent. They had CEREAL, and some exceedingly nice sausages, fried eggs, beans, everything you would wish for from breakfast. Afterwards it was straight into the truck for an hourish drive to the National Park. There was a slight snag as we attempted to set off though: the truck got stuck and we had to get a tractor to come pull it out!
Thanks tractor! I’m sorry about all the mean things I said about your cousins slowing down traffic in England!
At this point there is very little point in describing things as they happened. We drove around, and looked at animals. Instead, let’s seem some photos!
Some weird pale animal at the entrance to the park
The old gate to the park. The increased rain has submerged it
African Cape Buffalo. One of the big 5, and our first spotted species. Kinda far away though
Now featuring Cattle Egret.
Some yellow bird - possibly a Weaver but the photo is not clear enough for Patrick to tell!
An Impala, pretty close too!
A lot more showed up. The males have horns, the females none.
Impala are distinguishable from other Gazelle family members by the M-shaped markings on their hindquarters
Olive Baboons this time. These guys were pretty photogenic!
We actually saw a couple of these guys fighting a bit
Plus this child riding its mother like a horse
At the top of Baboon Cliff, the highest point of the park.
And looking the other way, over the lake. Spot the bird in flight!
That weird pale animal followed us!
Flamingos from afar. It was 50/50 as to whether we’d see them thanks to the previously mentioned water dilution
2 Hippos as well! This one meows really loud when it’s hungry I bet
I do like flying bird photos
A Red Headed Agama Lizard
This one was such a poser
Rock Hyraxes, pretty well camouflaged. There are 4
Now one is scratching like a dog! Apparently they are distant cousins to Elephants!
One final look at the view before descending
Suddenly another Agama Lizard. Even more of a poser than the last, and complete with club tail
“African WiFi”, or Warthog. The WiFi nickname comes from the tail being like an antenna when they run
This is a Gazelle, scratching itself like a dog. Straight horns, and an 11-shaped marking on its hindquarters are its features
Now either screaming or yawning
The elusive Superb Sparrow. We have seen tons, but every time I didn’t have a camera! This photo doesn’t do their metallic turquoise back feathers, not their yellow breast justice
2 Impalas taking
Probably one of the better photos I took today
A Common Zebra, much closer than yesterday as promised
This one did get up eventually. Riding it is a Red Billed Ox Pecker
We actually saw more Zebra earlier, but they were far away
But is it black with white stripes or white with black stripes?!
The part brown one is young
An Auger Buzzard, like yesterday
A male Waterback. They are a last resort for predators because when they get scared their flesh becomes tainted and either tastes bad or becomes poisonous (I didn’t get which)
Female and baby Waterback.
Buffalo are the most dangerous of the big 5 because they are short sighted and have a very good sense of smell, and pretty much attack anything they smell
Told you the baboons were photogenic!
Even when they are shouting
And especially when smiling!
Black Faced Vervet Monkeys. Don’t know what they are looking at
The child is plaiting it’s mother’s back hair
A Glossy Ibis, in a Hammerkop’s nest
At this point we stopped for lunch in a “learning centre” in the midst of the park, often used for school trips for the children to learn about conservation, the animals, and such. Today it was rice with a couple of veg and pineapple in it (surprisingly very nice), some slightly fancier than average tuna mayo, a mixed veg thing, and the standard selection of bread and spreads, plus pineapple for dessert. After that it was back to the safari.
White Rhinos from (very) afar
A Saddle Billed Stork, also from afar
A pair of Fish Eagles, one of which is eating a fish!
Some Eland Antelope: the biggest variety found here
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Neighbaline. I am sorry
Greater (pinker) and Lesser (white) Flamingos, and Yellow Billed Stork
Egyptian Geese
A Blacksmith Plover. The birds loved it around this area
A Thompson Gazelle. I’m afraid I did not record it’s defining features
An Ostrich from relatively afar
Those same White Rhinos again, still not too close, but as close as we could get. Black Rhinos eat leaves and have a more beak like mouth, White Rhinos eat grass and have a wider mouth (see below)
Some more Greater Flamingos, Shoebills, and an unidentified wading bird closest to camera
The Ostrich hadn’t moved far, Patrick thought it might have some eggs, but we wouldn’t be able to see them from so far
The White Rhinoceros is supposedly called so because the Black Rhino was discovered first, and the first person to see a White one case in saying “I saw a Rhino with a wide mouth!” And was misheard.
Flamingos in flight
Crested Cranes, also in flight. What is with these birds and flying?!
They are pretty cool looking on the ground though. The national bird of Uganda
Rothschild Giraffes from afar. They have “white socks”
2 Lions! Does that count as a pride? They were hunting a Warthog
The aforementioned Warthog escaped quite easily. You can see the dust it has kicked up
It spotted that weird pale creature! Hope they won’t go for that next...
Turns out Lions are pretty lazy
It started to rain like crazy. Some very spooky views over the savannah. It’s not even Halloween yet
These falls would’ve been a prime habitat for that pale creature were it not chucking it down
A closer Rothschild Giraffe. This is their original habitat apparently, and any seen elsewhere have been relocated
4 of them in this one. You can just about see the socks of the front 2
Thankfully it stopped raining as we left the park. The campsite was only 10 minutes from the park exit, which was the other side of the park to where we entered. Surprisingly it hadn’t even rained here, so the ground was nice and dry for our camping. Another perk was lovely hot showers, which are by no means guaranteed, and proper toilets.
There was a fair wait for tea, but there were hot drinks to keep us going, as well as a few souvenirs being sold, and a bar. I did buy some of the souvenirs for certain family members, but I’ll never say what! Tea was courgette, cucumber, chilli, garlic, and peanut butter soup which basically tastes like peanuts with a bit of garlic, aka very nice, followed by mashed potatoes and beef stew. The mash was very nice, but the beef was quite gristly in places. Still tasted good though!
There was a fair wait for tea, but there were hot drinks to keep us going, as well as a few souvenirs being sold, and a bar. I did buy some of the souvenirs for certain family members, but I’ll never say what! Tea was courgette, cucumber, chilli, garlic, and peanut butter soup which basically tastes like peanuts with a bit of garlic, aka very nice, followed by mashed potatoes and beef stew. The mash was very nice, but the beef was quite gristly in places. Still tasted good though!
Tomorrow’s wake up time was a nauseating 5am, out of the tents by 5:30, and breakfast at 6, to set off at 6:30. The reason for such an early rise was a long drive to the Masai Mara, aiming to arrive in the early afternoon to give us time to do an evening game drive. Because of this, a super early bedtime was in order!
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