NidalM Photography / Blog / Travelography / Nakuru: Kenya’s Flamingo Lake

Nakuru: Kenya’s Flamingo Lake

Posted by NidalM on Aug 29th, 2009 | 32 comments

An hours drive north from Navisha (three hours from Nairobi), lies one of the most breathtaking sights in Kenya. Lake Nakuru is a salty lake located in Kenya’s rift valley. The prevalence of algae in the waters make the lake an ideal home for flamingos which cover the entire lake. And by cover, I really mean it. Literally. Cover. As in like millions of PINK little birds. Readers of this blog will not be surprised to learn, that given my strong affinity towards Enrique, I am also a great lover of the color PINK.

Lake Nakuru is surrounded and protected by a wildlife conservation: The Nakuru National Park. While not as large as some of the other parks in Kenya, Nakuru easily makes up for it in pure aesthetic appeal!

Bird layer pie! The shores of Lake Nakuru are inhabited by several species of birds. Ranging from Marble Storks and Pelicans to the blatantly obvious (and PINK!) flamingos!

The algae in the lake makes the shores an ideal habitation spot for flamingos….

… and the birds that call flamingos food. White meat? Red meat? or PINK meat : -D

Did I mention there were a lot of flamingos? Literally, millions. Sadly pictures don’t capture sound. Imagine standing at the edge of this lake, listening to the squawking of millions of birds. It’s truly an unreal experience.

… PINK

The flamingos inhabit the entire shoreline of the lake. Nakuru is 5km across and 10km long. Lets do some math. Estimating lake perimeter as an ellipse: Circumference of ellipse with a=5km and b=10km using calculus is approximately 25km. Approximate average width of flamingo habitation is say 8m and assumed flamingo density is 10 per meter squared. Calculating it out, this gives us an approximate population of 2 million flamingos in lake Nakuru. See, I told you there were MILLIONS. Also, I am a huge math nerd. By the way, if you think I’m making this up, a population consensus of Nakuru flamingos in 1973 found 1.5 million birds. 2 million is perfectly reasonable estimate for 2009, give or take a few hundred thousand.

At dusk, the flamingos seem to suddenly become active, and thousands take to the skies, shrieking and doing their dance.

“Just you and Me” …because you’re one in a million. Dedicated to that special someone

Up next (And I promise not to take long!): Theres more to Nakuru than Flamingos! Lions, Rhinos and Warthogs at Nakuru National Park!

Tags: birds, kenya, lake, nakuru, wildlife

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Chiar

Beautiful! Does the colour pink (and Enrique) justice! The flamingos of Cuba have nicer lagoons but these have more company and a whole lake!
Chiar

Beautiful! Does the colour pink (and Enrique) justice! The flamingos of Cuba have nicer lagoons but these have more company and a whole lake!
Chiara

Or I could spell my name correctly: Chiara! Now off to practice spelling it many times over!
Chiara

Or I could spell my name correctly: Chiara! Now off to practice spelling it many times over!
qurrat

I think I would kill myself for seeing so much pink around me.
qurrat

I think I would kill myself for seeing so much pink around me.
thecrazyjogger

Wow Beautiful!

I wonder what wud happen if there were gun shots…
thecrazyjogger

Wow Beautiful!

I wonder what wud happen if there were gun shots…
http://thameraltassan.com/ Thamer Al-Tassan

Great shots! thanks for sharing…
http://thameraltassan.com/ Thamer Al-Tassan

Great shots! thanks for sharing…
http://precognitive.wordpress.com/ Qusay

Nice, I would like it if you can put the lens you used for each picture as you did in your earlier posts, it gives people like me a feel of what can and should be used when taking a picture of a certain kind.

Great pics BTW, as I said, it makes me want to get out on a safari… or just a day trip somewhere.

Thanks
http://precognitive.wordpress.com/ Qusay

Nice, I would like it if you can put the lens you used for each picture as you did in your earlier posts, it gives people like me a feel of what can and should be used when taking a picture of a certain kind.

Great pics BTW, as I said, it makes me want to get out on a safari… or just a day trip somewhere.

Thanks
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

OR I could fix the post but that would just make you're next comment sound weird to everyone else
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

OR I could fix the post but that would just make you're next comment sound weird to everyone else
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

You could probably take out a couple dozen with a well placed shot 0_0
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

You could probably take out a couple dozen with a well placed shot 0_0
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

I'll try to add them next post. For the purposes of this post, the first shot was with a wide angle (a Sigma 10-20mm) while all the rest were done using my trusty Canon 70-200 f/4 L IS telephoto.

And if you plan to go somewhere, TAKE ME WITH YOU! ;P
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

I'll try to add them next post. For the purposes of this post, the first shot was with a wide angle (a Sigma 10-20mm) while all the rest were done using my trusty Canon 70-200 f/4 L IS telephoto.

And if you plan to go somewhere, TAKE ME WITH YOU! ;P
Chiara

Oh don't make me look/sound weird! The blogosphere couldn't cope if it was thought I were (subjunctive mode of the present tense of the copula verb “to be” to indicate uncertainty and be grammatically correct) weird!
Chiara

Oh don't make me look/sound weird! The blogosphere couldn't cope if it was thought I were (subjunctive mode of the present tense of the copula verb “to be” to indicate uncertainty and be grammatically correct) weird!
thecrazyjogger

I was thnkin more like a shot in the air. to make them all take off at the same time?
thecrazyjogger

I was thnkin more like a shot in the air. to make them all take off at the same time?
shortdoc

The last picture should be on a wedding card or valentines day… awesome capture! im enjoying the pics! 2 million flamingos!
shortdoc

The last picture should be on a wedding card or valentines day… awesome capture! im enjoying the pics! 2 million flamingos!
http://www.interruptingmydreams.wordpress.com/ Rabia

WOW! What an amazing experience for you guys! As always, the photos are wonderful…I can only imagine what being there must have felt like!
http://www.interruptingmydreams.wordpress.com Rabia B.

WOW! What an amazing experience for you guys! As always, the photos are wonderful…I can only imagine what being there must have felt like!
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Begs you to wonder. Given that Saudi Religions police hunt out all displays of the color pink on V-day, this place would be like hell for them
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Begs you to wonder. Given that Saudi Religions police hunt out all displays of the color pink on V-day, this place would be like hell for them
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Begs you to wonder. Given that Saudi Religions police hunt out all displays of the color pink on V-day, this place would be like hell for them
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

Begs you to wonder. Given that Saudi Religions police hunt out all displays of the color pink on V-day, this place would be like hell for them
http://halfthedeen.blogspot.com/ Single4now

Awesome shots, mashaAllah! Really captures the scene well. Like something out of the National Geographic. Good job maths nerd! MashaAllah. Next time, consider taking a video as well.
http://www.nidalm.com/blog/ NidalM

I shall And thanks!