We left Ol Pejeta early in the morning to spend long afternoon in Lake Nakuru NP. It was 4.5 hour drive from Sweetwaters Camp/Ol Pejeta to Lake Nakuru NP entrance. We stopped for excellent coffee from local plantation and bought some to take home. In the park, we drove along the lake most of the time, stopping and walking on the shores. It was nice to see waterfowl, zebra and buffalo from the ground and stretch our legs. But later in our photos I found a lion sleeping like dead in the grass very near where we were walking! Fortunately, he didn’t see us either or didn’t care. There were huge pinkish pelicans, some flamingos, spoonbills, ibises, Egyptian geese, cormorants, marabou storks, herons, egrets, sea gulls and many other birds. There are no elephants at Lake Nakuru so trees grow taller – yellow bark acacia (fever tree) forest. We saw Rothschild giraffe scratching her belly on acacia bush, a spotted hyena, rhinos, and again many animals we saw earlier. We found lion family (mother with 3 grownup cubs) resting under tree near their zebra meal. It was fascinating to watch pair of jackals trying to steal some meat, walking around to get upwind, but finally wisely deciding it was too risky as the lion was watching. It is very nice smaller park, much more green, with nice landscape and views over the lake, nice even without huge flocks of flamingos which no longer come here because of high water level. We stayed for the night on the shores of another Great Rift Valley soda lake, Elementaita, at very beautiful Sentrim Elementaita lodge. Our huge cottage had balcony overlooking the lake. Dinner was served in open-air restaurant with very dim candle light not to attract clouds of non-biting but annoying insects from the lake (waiters were using flashlights). Beautiful mountains around the lake and hundreds of pink flamingos gathering in the morning at the far end of the lake.
