Thursday 13th to Saturday 15th November 2025. I notice things. I can’t help it. That’s not to say I see everything, that simply wouldn’t be true. I’ve failed to see lots of things over the past couple of weeks, ‘Where is it?’ ‘Which tree?’ ‘I know elephants are big, but where are they?’ But I do notice things. So it was at breakfast this morning at the magnificent Sopa Lodge at Lake Nakuru where we are staying for a couple of nights en-route to Samburu National Park further north.
The views across the Rift Valley simply spectacular, the sense of space, light and vastness overwhelming and I saw a swift. It was bigger than the other swifts zipping around the lodge, more akin to the Common Swifts we see at home, but I can’t be sure of species, and it flew purposefully along the escarpment. Moments later, a small group appeared, these too moving direct, without any sign of wheeling around as swifts are wont to do. Seconds later a party of 50 moved across, then 50 more until several hundred had flown over. They were migrating. Witnessing this simple movement, an episode that lasted not 5 minutes, by a group of little birds flying along the escarpment elated me. I’ve never witnessed swifts migrating, yet here sipping tea and munching toast this spectacle enacted just over our heads. It was elemental and humbling, a natural event every bit as dramatic to my mind as a lion kill, yet nobody else around had the slightest notion that anything of the kind had taken place. So the day begins.
Lake Nakuru was once famed for its rafts of flamingos that blanketed its surface pink. Sadly, high water levels over recent years has changed the composition of the lake rendering it far less attractive to these upside down croquet sticks. Most have moved on to areas more conducive to their needs. This increase in water levels and consequently the overall surface area of the lake, has also resulted in displacement of other animals from the park and destruction of property in Nakuru town.
On our first visit to Africa in 2014, we had a day trip to this lake, where although conditions were changing and the entrance gate already under water, still played host to quite large numbers of flamingos. Now, only a couple of hundred remain. But even that is a sight to be appreciated and we duly paid homage when we parked the jeep on the causeway. Although by past standards the spectacle had waned, it was nonetheless a smorgasbord of birdlife. The flamingos were still impressive, but the supporting cast of waders, egrets, pelicans, cormorants and grebes provided a perpetual arena of noise, movement and sound to keep any naturalist engaged for hours. I snapped away like a man possessed, not knowing quite where to point the camera; Marsh Sandpipers to my right, Greenshank to my left, Great White Pelicans drifting around, Wood Sandpipers having a tiff, African Spoonbill dropping in for a quick bite, African Fish Eagles soaring high above as an Osprey successfully dived into the shallows for its lunch. I could have stayed for hours.
Other jeeps came and went, yet I did not see a single person get excited at the scene and nobody had binoculars with which to get in close. It made me wonder why they bother. Is it that they have seen such dramatic footage on TV of lion hunts or the great migration that anything less is simply uninteresting? Most people seemed quite content to sit in their vehicle, have something pointed out to them, take a selfie to post on Instagram and move on to the next attraction. It’s all a bit of a circus sometimes with people dressing for a night on the town rather than a safari along dusty, potholed tracks. It sticks in the craw somehow, but then I’m a grumpy old man so should probably be ignored.
Away from Lake Nakuru itself, the surrounding bush is home to good numbers of rhino, Rothschild’s Giraffe and Buffalo. We were fortunate to have a close encounter with White Rhinos, presumably a mother and well grown offspring, that having been spooked by a private vehicle emerged from the brush right next to us, crossed the road and proceeded to have a quick drink from a stream before lumbering off to deeper cover.
We saw the Rothschild’s Giraffes with their distinctive patchwork markings, espied solitary Hyenas running the gauntlet of wary Buffalo that shook their heads and advanced towards them registering their distaste of these loping predators. Impalas impressed us with their ability to effortlessly hurdle a stream, Long-crested Eagles screamed from exposed perches and we even came upon a well grown Puff Adder in the middle of the road.
As we made our way back to the lodge a fleeting form was caught in our headlights. We stopped, backed up a few metres and could just make out the shape of a Greyish Eagle Owl perched on a bough. Maximum aperture, as slow a speed as I dared, point and hope. The result is pretty poor, but it was taken in near total darkness.
From dawn until dusk this country keeps offering its delights and we’re only too pleased to receive. And so the day ends.
For more blogs in this series and other wildlife articles click here.
It’s a long time since I last took a tour group to Nakuru. I remember we found so much of interest on the approach road that we hadn’t reached the circular road around the lake before other vehicles arriving after us had circumnavigated the lake and were leaving the park. I’ve never seen a live Puff Adder – what an impressive snake!
It was indeed impressive. There was a troop of Olive Baboons moving towards it but we moved on before they actually reached the snake. It would have been interesting to see their reaction.
another great account
yes we should all wonder why people dont see more nature but for those who do these accounts are amazing thanks
Cheers pal.