Lake Naivasha
- Kenya
Overview
The name Lake Naivasha, which refers to “rough water” in Maasai, comes from the region’s propensity for abrupt storms. The lake is a rejuvenating day vacation or weekend getaway from Kenya’s hectic metropolis and is easily reachable from Nairobi. Lake Naivasha, a sizable freshwater lake outside of Naivasha, is situated in Nakuru County. The tallest lake in the Great Rift Valley is Lake Naivasha, which is located at a height of 1,884 metres.
Lake Naivasha occupies the environment with a surface size of 139 km2, and a 64 km2 swamp surrounds it on all sides. The lake is surrounded by woodlands of the fever tree beyond the swampland. Rainfall determines how much surface area Lake Naivasha has, and in the early 20th century, the lake fully dried up. The abundance of flamingos and hippos at Lake Naivasha is well known. You are almost certain to witness one of the nearly 1,500 hippos inside the vicinity. With almost 400 different bird species living there, the lake is indeed a birder’s delight. Lesser and larger flamingos congregate around the lake, creating a vivid pink wash across the water’s surface. Near Lake Naivasha, Crescent Island, Crater Lake Game Sanctuary, and Longonot National Park, you may see giraffes, zebras, impalas, and waterbucks. Even a leopard may be seen by the fortunate explorers.
Best Time to Visit
You are welcome to travel to Lake Naivasha at any time of the year. So between June and October is when it’s best. Although it will be hot because it is the summer during those months, it is still the best time to travel.
Park Closure
Open: All Year Around
Safari Options: Boat Safari, Balloon Safari, Jeep Safari.
Fauna
The rich flora around Lake Naivasha attracts a variety of animals that include buffalo, antelope, giraffe, warthog and monkey, and you will almost certainly catch sight of hippos lazily watching proceedings from the cooling water. The highest and purest of the Great Rift Valley’s lakes, Naivasha also plays host to a variety of birdlife; more than 400 species have been recorded here. Lake Naivasha is home to a wide variety of freshwater fish like black bass, tilapia and crayfish, and many fish-eating birds like fish eagles, pelicans, kingfishers and cormorants.
Flora
The higher portion of the Lake Naivasha basin hosts typical Afromontane flora, which constitutes a relatively continuous uniform belt. The portion situated above the 3,600 m tree line is restricted to a moorland plateau interspersed with bogs, grasslands, and bare rocks, but without glaciers. Economically valuable evergreen endemic hardwood conifers dominate the Afromontane belt. ‘Podocarpus” is the common climax tree in the cloud forest, while drier forests tend to be dominated by Juniperus spp. In places, a bamboo zone is also found between 2,500 and 3,000 meters, above which there is sometimes a Hagenia rosewood zone stretching up to the 3,600 m boundary.
How to get there ?
By Air
Related Tour
There are no related tours for this destination