{"id":348,"date":"2022-04-26T12:15:06","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T12:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irissrin.com\/blog\/?p=348"},"modified":"2022-04-26T12:16:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T12:16:31","slug":"safari-to-kenya-lake-naivasha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irissrin.com\/blog\/safari-to-kenya-lake-naivasha\/","title":{"rendered":"Safari to Kenya – Lake Naivasha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is a continuation from Safari to Kenya \u2013 Lake Nakuru National Park<\/a> that ended with our going to bed at Sunbird Lodge on Wednesday, March 9 after a day spent at the Lake Nakuru National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lake Naivasha (Thursday, March 10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To recap, on Wednesday, March 9, we visited Lake Nakuru National Park and spent much of the day there.\u00a0 We saw Rhinos, Buffalos, Rothschild Giraffes, Colubus Monkeys, numerous species of birds including the Flamingo that Lake Nakuru is famous for, and a Warthog mom defending its baby from a male Warthog!\u00a0 It had been a pretty good day even though many may chalk it up on the minus side of the ledger since we hadn\u2019t seen any big cats.\u00a0 But that\u2019s what going on Safari entails \u2013 you experience what Mother Nature sends your way and hold your peace!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thursday morning began slightly later than usual \u2013 we rose about 0645, a good 15-20 minutes after sunrise.\u00a0 After washing up and such, we headed to the main reception-dining area for breakfast.\u00a0 After another wonderful breakfast topped off with some fresh mango we were relaxing over a cup of coffee (tea in Iris\u2019 case) and watching the Lovebirds consume their Ugali for the morning, joined that day by a Black-headed Weaver (third image below; yellow plumage), when David arrived.\u00a0 He was looking cheerful and well rested.\u00a0 We said our hellos, chatted a bit and headed to the Toyota for the drive to Lake Naivasha<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the drive headed east, towards Nairobi, on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway, David pointed out a few antelope on either side of the road.\u00a0 The usual 22-wheelers thundered their way from Mombasa and Nairobi towards the west of the country frequently holding up traffic, it being a single lane highway except on an up-slope where it included a slow lane.\u00a0 About 9:30am (we had been driving almost 90 minutes), David turned off to the right and we were in the heart of the mid to large-sized town of Naivasha<\/a>.\u00a0 The main street was wide with shops on our left and the lake on our right but obscured by trees and vegetation.\u00a0 There were numerous lodges on the right on the bank of the lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David drove through town until we were past the shopping district.\u00a0 After about a mile he turned off into a gate on the right into a fenced-in property and drove up to an office building.\u00a0 This was the boathouse we had planned to be at before 10am.\u00a0 However, it turned out that the place was closed!\u00a0 David got back into the vehicle and cheerfully said, \u201cNo problem!\u00a0 Let\u2019s find another place.\u201d.\u00a0 He then drove back the way we came towards town for a minute and turned left into another boathouse property.\u00a0 This one had a beautiful garden and turned out to be open for business.\u00a0 David went over to the office to pay for the boat ride while Iris and I used the super-clean facilities.\u00a0 After I came out, I walked around the garden and took some pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David joined us after about 10 minutes at the office, having worked out the details.\u00a0 He told us that he\u2019d not be joining us for this segment and that we\u2019d be going with John who\u2019d be with us shortly.\u00a0 David had also paid for a visit to Crescent Island<\/a> on the lake which is where the movie Out of Africa<\/a> was filmed.\u00a0 We waited a few minutes and a stoic, middle aged John, a Kenyan who stood about 5\u20198\u201d and perhaps 180 pounds joined us.\u00a0 We said our hellos, said goodbye to David and followed John to the back of the office building.\u00a0 After we went past the garden and towards the lake, the ground became increasingly slushy and soon we saw canoes and other craft pulled up on the heavily vegetated lakeshore.\u00a0 I was thankful that I was wearing my waterproof boots \u2013 navigating that area would have been quite messy otherwise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We came up to John\u2019s long canoe\/boat, one fitted with an outboard motor.\u00a0 He pulled that over to the lake and bade us to hop in after we\u2019d secured our life jackets.\u00a0 After he had us positioned just right, he used a long pole to punt away from the shore and, a minute or so later, we were on the lake proper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As John pushed away, he pointed out some birds on shore.\u00a0 These were in order below: a Hadada Ibis; an African Jacana; a Marabou stork; an immature Common Moorhen; and a Grey-headed Gull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once we were clear of the vegetation on the lakeshore, John fired up the outboard motor and maneuvered carefully away from shore.\u00a0 A few minutes later, we spotted pelicans and then some hippos wallowing in the water, not far from the bank.\u00a0 John told us that Lake Naivasha was a large (I later found it covered nearly 60 square miles, with an average depth of about 20 feet) freshwater lake, unlike other rift valley, soda lakes like Nakuru and Elmenteita.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we moved further away from the boathouse, we saw a Great Cormorant, more Hippos, some Egyptian Geese, a Pelican perched on a tree trunk sticking out of the water, and another Cormorant perched on a tree trunk or piling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We then saw a Giant Kingfisher up on a tree followed by a Pied Kingfisher on a tree stump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John brought us close to the bank and we saw, in quick succession, a pair of African Fish Eagles, a pair of Egyptian Geese, a Sacred Ibis, another Hippo, a Black-headed Heron, and a Squacco Heron.\u00a0 Truly, Lake Naivasha was a Birder\u2019s paradise!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John had a bucket with some fish and decided to show us how an African Fish Eagle swoops down on its prey!\u00a0 As we pulled away from the bank, he asked me to be ready to take a video and then hooted over to the Fish Eagles on the branch waving his arm.\u00a0 He then pulled out a fish and threw it onto the lake\u2019s surface.\u00a0 No reaction!\u00a0 He changed direction and tried again with the same result.\u00a0 The third time, we got lucky!\u00a0 The fish eagle finally decided that the meal was worth it and swooped down on the fish.\u00a0 As best as I could tell, it was able to retrieve it and then flew away to enjoy its mid-morning snack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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