Safari Lake Nakuru

On day 3 of our African adventure we drove over 5 hours from Nairobi to Lake Nakuru. We were unaware of the unexpected and incredible experience that lay ahead of us for the early morning game drive the next day.

More on that a little later in the post with exceptional photos you won’t want to miss…teaser – it involves a male lion and a tasty Pumba!

Bird Paradise

One of the things I was most excited about for Lake Nakuru was seeing an abundance of bird life. Chris and I are bird nerds, and this beautiful part of Africa did not disappoint.

The Ugly 5

In Africa, they have what they refer to as the ‘Ugly Five’ and the ‘Big Five’. I’ll reveal the Big Five in my next blog post, but here I want to share the Ugly Five. 

Each of the ‘Ugly Five’ animals has an odd appearance and an even stranger body build. With very dull colours they don’t have the most beautiful appearance to most people.

Although I think the animals are quite cute, just not the birds in this category. The Vulture (which we didn’t get a great photo of) and the Marabou Stork are pictured below.  

The other 3 in the Ugly Five are the Warthog AKA Pumba, the Hyena, and the Wildebeest.

Some fun facts about the warthog I never knew:

They have to eat on their elbows (or knees, I guess?) to be able to reach the grass.

They look like they are wearing high heels by the way they walk.

When the adults want their young to follow them, their tail stands up perfectly straight so the little ones can see where to follow mom or dad, which is especially helpful in the long grass.

The Wildebeests are most well-known and guaranteed to be seen during the Great Migration in the Masai Mara.

During the months of July through to October, the Mara is the scene of the epic annual trek of over 1.5 million wildebeest from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara region. It’s also the busiest time of year for tourism for this reason.

I’m glad we went when we did as you get more of the parks to yourself with fewer vehicles competing to get a spot for the best, close-up views. Plus, other than the Wildebeest, we saw every other animal that you would see during the busy season.

Flamingo Hill Camp

I’ve said before that I am not one for camping, not since the kids were little anyway. But what we experienced, wasn’t camping, not even glamping, but a big step up. The accommodations were brilliant!

Once again, similar to the Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi shown in my previous blog post, the African colour scheme was fabulous.

Soft yellows, and bright oranges, with the neutral backdrop of the canvas tents in beige with green undertones. There were also plenty of natural materials, such as rattan and warm wood.

Morning Game Drive 

The best thing about game drives is the excitement and anticipation of what you might see! Animals tend to be most active at night and early mornings, as opposed to midday when the sun is at its hottest.

Taking in the sunrise as you bounce around in the jeep on a muddy and stony path adds to the awe-inspiring experience.

I had never given much thought to all the animals that eat grass, and just how much grass they all eat!

I learned that the reason the iconic Zebras stand next to each other, facing opposite directions, is so that prey cannot distinguish how many zebras there are. Their stripes make it hard for predators to tell where they start and stop, which totally makes sense when you think about it.

Below – This guy walked right by the jeep, just a few feet from our jeep. I love the colour palette – black and white stripes of the zebras, the auburn brush plants just behind him, the vibrant yellow-green grass, and the soft blue sky.

The giraffes are amazing creatures to see in the wild and to see so many at once and so close together, like these three seeking shade under a nearly barren Acacia tree.

Some fun facts about the giraffe are:

They live for 20 – 28 years and can weigh up to 1.8 tons as adults

Giraffes sleep just 5-30 minutes per day, standing up with their eyes open

The gestation period of a female is 14 -15 months -BUT, they can prolong birth by up to 3 months if they feel it is not safe to deliver!

Best For Last

At the beginning of this post, I shared a teaser about lions and a warthog. Sadly for the warthog, the story does not end well.

Early on in the sunrise game drive, we came across two male lions. Our drivers sensed something was up when they noticed Hyena’s and vultures nearby. Then we came across some blood and guts, what looked like the intestine of an animal – don’t worry, I didn’t take a picture of that!

One of the male lions was sleeping, while the other was lying down, but moving slightly. When he finally turned around, he proudly showed off his meal to us.

This truly was a remarkable sight to see, especially when he dropped the carcass and turned to look right into the lens of my husband’s camera! How beautiful are these majestic animals?!

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along with my safari adventure so far. More to come soon.

If you missed my first post about our trip to Africa, you can read about our first two days on our adventure here.