Lake
Nakuru National Park - Kenya
About 160km north-west of Nairobi, Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley alkaline lakes.
When conditions are right, between one and two million flamingos
feed on the algae near the shore of the lake.
From a distance the shoreline is one great pink mass.
I visited this game reserve at the start of my 8-week Intrepid
Nairobi to Johannesburg truck camping trip in Oct - Dec 2008.
After erecting our tents and lunch, we set out on a great 4-hour game drive.
It was a great safari intoduction.
We were stopping every 100 metres or so to photograph different animals.
Thompson gazelles were common
Marabou Stork
It is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and neck are adaptations to this,
as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds.
In both cases, a feathered head would become rapidly clotted with blood and other substances
when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean.
Masses of pink flamingos feeding on algae near the shore
Zebras were common. A bit like kangaroos in Australia.
Warthogs are my favourite ... how dare anyone call them ugly
It is actually called baboon lookout.
Eland
Secretary birds.
The name is popularly thought to derive from their crest of long quill-like feathers,
lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind his or her ear,
as was once the practice.
Despite visiting many more famous African game parks over the next 8 weeks, this was my favourite.
About 160km north-west of Nairobi, Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley alkaline lakes.
When conditions are right, between one and two million flamingos
feed on the algae near the shore of the lake.
From a distance the shoreline is one great pink mass.
I visited this game reserve at the start of my 8-week Intrepid
Nairobi to Johannesburg truck camping trip in Oct - Dec 2008.
After erecting our tents and lunch, we set out on a great 4-hour game drive.
It was a great safari intoduction.
We were stopping every 100 metres or so to photograph different animals.
Thompson gazelles were common
Marabou Stork
It is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and neck are adaptations to this,
as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds.
In both cases, a feathered head would become rapidly clotted with blood and other substances
when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean.
Masses of pink flamingos feeding on algae near the shore
Zebras were common. A bit like kangaroos in Australia.
Warthogs are my favourite ... how dare anyone call them ugly
It is actually called baboon lookout.
Eland
Secretary birds.
The name is popularly thought to derive from their crest of long quill-like feathers,
lending the bird the appearance of a secretary with quill pens tucked behind his or her ear,
as was once the practice.
Despite visiting many more famous African game parks over the next 8 weeks, this was my favourite.
