Kenya - Lake Naivasha

 

From the Masai Mara, we headed back north to Lake Naivasha, our final stop in Kenya before heading home. It was a long drive from Narok to Naivasha but there were interesting things to see along the way, providing us glimpses of how Kenyans live.  Especially interesting are market day scenes, herds of cattle on the way to market, huge sacks of farm produce on a small motorcycle, etc.  

Our home for the next two days was at Elsamere, the former home of Joy Adamson of "Born Free" fame.   It is a beautiful lakeside property which included a conservancy, a small museum, and even a projection room where we watched an interesting documentary on her life one evening.  While the majority of Joy Adamson's work is being displayed at the National Museum of Kenya, there are a few originals displayed here in the dining room.  Her portraits of various indigenous tribes in Kenya are treasured collections.  

The property was not fenced in so animals roam the ground freely.  One evening just before dark, as we were walking back to our cabin, a giraffe darted in our way!  Not sure who was more startled - we or the giraffe.  That was before the hippopotamus, which stalled our exit from the dining room later that same evening.  Another member of our group could not get out of her cabin at breakfast because two zebras were standing in front of her door.  It was quite hilarious at times.

When we arrived at Naivasha, we did a boat tour of the lake in the afternoon and encountered a surprising number of birds and wildlife, especially after we landed on Crescent Island, a wildlife sanctuary on the lake.  There were many submerged trees on the lake, providing an almost apocalyptic scene.  Apparently, flooding is a big issue due to rising lake waters, thousands of people were displaced.  

The road to Naivasha:

Our last view of the savanna at sunrise

















Market day

Looking beyond the roadside


I like the shop names!




As we got closer to Nairobi, the buildings became taller

A supermarket - quite a contrast to the little shops on the way

Cabins on the grounds

These two in the dining room are originals by Joy Adamson

A family of Colobus Monkeys live at the lodge

Recycled plastic bottles used for propagation at the Conservation Centre

Leopard Turtles at the Conservation Centre - the staff showed us how to tell their age from the lines on the shell

Lake Naivasha

Large areas of submerged trees

Pied Kingfisher

Another unusual bird - Squacco Heron, breeding in Southern Europe and the Middle east, a migrant wintering in Africa.  I was lucky to see it.

Yellow-billed stork

Perched in the right place for fish!

Giant Kingfisher with big fish

White Pelican - such a treat to see them so close

Hippos big and small

Giraffes big and small on Crescent Island

Gray-crowned crane of varying sizes

Taking off

For once it's not sleeping or in the water

Sunrise at the Lake

We got up early the following morning to go on our last game drive at Lake Nakuru, a two hour drive north from Naivasha.