Soda Lakes

Starting from the North, Kenya's Rift Valley Soda Lakes are Bogoria, Nakuru, Elementeita and Magadi. Apart from alkalinity they all have one thing in common - flamingoes. Bogoria and Nakuru may at times have as many as a milliion flamingoes feeding there.

Lake Bogoria is dominated by the countless hot springs which pour boiling water into the sterile lake. Sterile, except for the massive flocks of Lesser Flamingos that flood into Bogoria each year. Millions of them have been recorded at peak times of the year and hundreds of thousands is common. Greater Famingo are also present, sometimes in thousands and Black-necked Grebe are usually present. Although no other birds could possibly stand the conditions that the Flamingos find rather pleasant (standing up to your knees in boiling, highly caustic, soda is guaranteed to strip the skin of most animals) there is, nevertheless, an abundance of raptors preying on the ready source of meat. Steppe Eagles, Fish Eagles and Tawny Eagles are present in amazing numbers. In fact, at times the eagles are so numerous you can see 8 or more in a single tree. Bogoria is also one of the places in Kenya which offers a reasonable chance of seeing the Greater Kudu.

In early 2000 there were a significant number of deaths among the lesser flamingo population at Lake Bogoria. There are reports about what happened and the possible causes by the BBC.

Lake Nakuru was the first place in Africa to be designated a National Park primarily because of the birds. It has a comparatively low concentration of salts (compared to the 'real' soda lakes) and it also supports a fish population. As a result the wildlife is very different although, in common with the other soda lakes, Nakuru is home to a very large population of Flamingos which go there to feed. In 1997 the lake was almost completely dried out, partly as a result of drought and partly as a result of large amounts of water being extracted upstream. The extremely heavy El Niño rains in 1998 saved the lake but the numbers of flamingoes are still not as high as they used to be. It is a marvellous place to see a wide range of waders including Avocet, while large rafts of Pelican can also be seen sweeping the water in unison (in a rather attractive pelican version of synchronised swimming!). Probably the best view of the lake is from Baboon Cliffs, the view alone is worth the drive but the road up to the cliffs also provides a chance to see a number of chats. Watch out for the baboons at the top, they'll grab anything they think might be edible. Lake Nakuru National Park is also home to the Kenyan Rhino conservation project - and so is an excellent place to see Rhino.

Continuing south down the Rift is Lake Elementeita which has a couple of places to stay fairly close to the shore. In the 1980s it dried out completely leaving a dry salt lake. Like the others it is usually inhabited by large numbers of flamingoes and, not being as alkaline as Bogoria, by large numbers of other water birds. It has Kenya's only breeding colony of Great White Pelicans and Great Crested Grebe have beeen seen there. Grey-crested Helmet-shrike and Jackson's Widowbwbird can be seen in the area around the Lake.

The most southerly, and most alkaline, of the Kenyan lakes is Magadi. The salt concentrations there are so high that they are mined commercially. Despite this there are quite a few birds which take advantage of the hot springs. As with the other salt lakes the most obvious birds are the flamingoes, which very, very occasionally breed there, but there are plenty of other birds including migrant waders from Europe and Asia such as Little Stint; more than 20,000 waterbirds can usually be seen there in January. Magadi is also about the only place in Kenya where the Chestnut-banded Plover can be seen regularly.

Still further South, in fact outside Kenya, is the world's most alkaline lake, Lake Natron. Lake Natron is inaccessible and inhospitable - unless you happen to be a flamingo; despite the fact that the temperature of the mud around the lake can reach 50° it's the only known breeding ground for East Africa's Lesser Flamingoes, although they do occasionally attempt to breed at Nakuru or Bogoria. The hot mud may help them to breed successfully by keeping predators away from the nests.