LAKE BOGORIA
Area: 107 km2.
Location: north of Nairobi, approx. 4 hrs.
Lake Bogoria, which is 107 sq. kms, is truly a wild area; the lake itself set at the bottom of a trough at the base of a sheer 600m wall - the Ngendele escarpment. Hot water geysers and fumaroles are found on the western shoreline evidencing the turmoil below. In the middle of the day, the heat can be oppressive but there are some cool places to escape the heat, such as the Fig Tree Campsite where a mass of giant figs create a cool haven and a limpid stream of fresh water adds to the ambience of the location. There is very little game at Lake Bogoria, but oddly enough, it’s a haven for Greater Kudu and sightings of these animals is quite common. One of the greatest attractions of the lake is multitude of pink flamingos and other bird species.
Lake Bogoria is dominated by the countless hot springs which pour boiling water into the sterile lake. Sterile, except for the massive flocks of Lesser Flamingos that flood into Bogoria each year. Millions of them have been recorded at peak times of the year and hundreds of thousands is common. Greater Flamingos are also present, sometimes in thousands and Black-necked Grebe are usually present. Although no other birds could possibly stand the conditions that the Flamingos find rather pleasant (standing up to their knees in boiling, highly caustic, soda is guaranteed to strip the skin of most animals) there is, nevertheless, an abundance of raptors preying on the ready source of meat. Steppe Eagles, Fish Eagles and Tawny Eagles are present in amazing numbers. In fact, at times the eagles are so numerous you can see 8 or more in a single tree. Bogoria is also one of the places in Kenya which offers a reasonable chance of seeing the Greater Kudu.