We loved Old Pejeta so much so it was difficult to pack up and leave this morning. Thank you Sara for capturing the sunrise for us with Mount Kenya in the background. What fond memories we all are taking with us as we journey on to our next Kenya National Park.

We loved our tented camp and the abundance of wildlife viewing there but on this safari I am learning that every day brings more exciting and impressive things. Our first stop on the drive to Lake Nakuru National Park was at Thomson’s Falls, a 250 foot waterfall in the Central Rift Valley of Kenya. This waterfall was first discovered by Thomson,  a Scottish geologist  who became the first European to walk from Mombasa to Lake Victoria  in the early 1880’s.

In true tourist fashion we all had to get our pictures taken in front of the falls. We are traveling with William’s sister, her husband Joe and their two daughters, Caroline and Sara.

Arriving at Lake Nakuru Sopa Lodge, William and I both were thrilled. We were greeted with a warm wash cloth, cold juice and followed by a quick check in. Before boarding a golf cart to drive us to our room we took a few minutes to look around at the hotel reception area. The views from here overlooked Lake Nakuru and its surrounding National Park and we knew that our first game drive would certainly be something to remember.

The lodge reminded me of the Earl Young Mushroom Houses we had seen in Michigan . The room was amazing and had scenic views of the lake from our balcony.

Mwok has been our safari driver since we arrived in Nairobi. He asks at the beginning of each game drive what animals we would like to see and he knows exactly how to spot them and then always positions our safari Land Cruiser for the best photographing position.

This evening we asked for giraffes, zebras, and leopards and Mwok delivered! We all got excited when we saw these three baby giraffes. Mwok told us the giraffe has the same number of vertebrae as humans and their neck is about half of their overall height.

We fell in love with this zebra but I’ll tell you more about him later.

Mwok got a call on his radio that a leopard had been spotted so we rushed to the area the other guides had announced. There must have been ten safari land cruisers already there but as always, Mwok was able to get us into a position to get a pretty decent photograph of him.

After the leopard sighting we spent the rest of the game drive viewing the abundance of wildlife. On the way out of the lodge this afternoon, Mwok told us of the smallest of antelopes weighing about 10 pounds and we all challenged him saying no way. He told us they are mostly nocturnal, mate for life and live together in the low bush.. They are rarely seen apart from their partners and if one of the dik dik’s should lose their life, the other will commit suicide by making themself visible to predators. By the way, the biggest predator of the dik dik are humans. Their velvety skin is used for making gloves and their small leg bones for making ceremonial jewelry. So just before returning to the lodge Mwok in fact spotted the beautiful little dik dik for us.

Now back to the zebra I promised to tell you more about. The zebra was separated from the main herd by some distance and had a limp. We guessed he had somehow injured his rear leg or maybe had been bitten by a snake. Regardless of the injury he was certainly in danger as the hyenas had already surrounded him. He was a very strong zebra though and even when we left a few days later people were reporting that he was still alive.

We had several more game drives during our stay at Lake Nakuru and we continued to see an abundance of wildlife. Our game drives never got old and we all were so excited to load up in the safari vehicle and head out to see what the park would show us.

These Elands are the largest of the African Antelope family and there were many herds of them in Lake Nakuru.

Here are some monkeys and baboons we saw there.

We happened upon a recent kill of a baby buffalo and spotted this lion and lioness.

Even the hyena had snuck in to get his share of the kill.

Lake Nakuru situated on the floor of the Great Rift Valley which is surrounded by woody and brushy grass land allowed us to see all this wildlife but I cannot leave out what we saw around the lake itself. It is know for it’s flamingos however the lake has been changing to less salinity and thus fewer of the beautiful lesser and greater birds. The lake is also home to pelicans as well and everywhere your eye could wander there were birds.

Below is one of the storks that makes its home here. The water just glistens and all is peaceful as we stand in the safari vehicle and watch all the birds and fowl that live here

Here is a beautiful lone pelican too.

It is difficult to end this post about Lake Nakuru because we saw so much more here. I believe you just need to come here and experience this Kenyan National Park for yourself.

William and I will be going to the Masai Mara National Reserve tomorrow and I’ll share our personal experience with you then in our next post.