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Highlights of lakes Naivasha and Nakuru in Kenya

5/7/2017

24 Comments

 
Zebra, lakes Naivasha and Nakuru, Kenya
​By Roxanne Reid
If you grew up reading books like Karen Blixen’s Out of Africa and Elspeth Huxley’s Flame Trees of Thika, you’ll understand what a thrill it is to stand somewhere between Nairobi and Naivasha at a viewpoint over the Great Rift Valley, a 9600km trench that carves its way through East Africa. Here are some highlights of two of Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes, Naivasha and Nakuru.

Loldia House
Loldia House, Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Italians prisoners of war built the Governors Camp Collection’s Loldia House of hand-cut volcanic rock in the 1940s. It’s reminiscent of the homes of the early settlers and the farm it stands on was established in 1904. A giant wild fig towers over one corner of the house and verandah, its branches spreading some 20m from the trunk. Green lawns unfold in front of the house, and the garden sweeps down to Lake Naivasha, full of yellow-bark acacias, bougainvilla, plumbago and clivias. The lounge is full of leather-bound books, a baby grand piano and vases of roses of all colours from the rose farm nearby in Naivasha town.

Views of Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha, Kenya
The views of the Rift Valley’s Lake Naivasha – the only fresh water lake of the Rift Valley – were beautiful from every window and verandah at Loldia House. We could also see the dormant volcano, Mount Longonot, the only mountain in the eastern part of the Rift Valley. We had sundowners on the edge of the lake in the evening and woke as day broke to the sound of fish eagles, red-chested cuckoos and spurfowl. We could see pelicans on the lake in the distance. Before long came the sound of a boat motor as fishermen went out on the lake to catch red tilapia in their nets. 

Meals on the lawns
Loldia House, Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Our first meal at Loldia House was a delicious lunch of red snapper, served in style on the lawns in front of the house. Dinners were in the dining room, but breakfast was also in the fresh air, looking out at the lake and listening to pairs of fish-eagles calling back and forth. It included fruit, pastries and cooked breakfast, but for me the highlight was a pot of home-made set yoghurt that was superb.

Olive baboons and Kirk’s dik-dik
Kirk's dik-dik, Lake Naivasha, Kenya
Loldia House occupies a beautiful spot on a 6 500-acre private farm on the shores of Lake Naivasha. On our drive from the entrance gate we saw some farming activities but more exciting were the wild animals that live on the property. This is where we found hippos, many birds, our first olive baboons (a furrier cousin of the Chacma baboons we’re used to in Southern Africa) and a few pairs of dainty Kirk’s dik-diks with their elongated noses, large eyes and matchstick legs.

Aardvark
Aardvark
Our guide Jacob Ngunjiri lured us out after dinner with a single word – aardvark. He knew, he said, where one had been seen a couple of nights before. We were hooked. He conjured up spotted hyenas, African hares, hippos preparing their beds inland for the night and three pairs of dik-dik. Then at last we found an aardvark. Last time we saw one it was for just a few seconds before it disappeared. Here at Loldia we could go off-road to get a little closer and must have watched it for 15 to 20 minutes as it moved and dug in the soil for supper. So special, especially when we learnt that around here seeing an aardvark is believed to give you a longer life.

Day trip to Lake Nakuru National Park
Rothschild's giraffe, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
Although Lake Nakuru National Park was just 90km away it took two hours to get there because top speed through small settlements crammed with lorries, people, shops and cows was around 40-50km per hour. The park is only about 188 square kilometres, on the edge of Kenya’s third-largest town, Nakuru. We saw zebra, big buffalo herds, white rhino, a dozen Rothschild’s giraffe and a feast of birds, including superb starling, crested cranes, a long-crested eagle and bee-eaters. The scenery was pretty too, with yellow-bark acacias against a background of the lake, and many umbrella trees on the open plains.

Flamingos
Flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
At the edge of Lake Nakuru, which is a Ramsar wetland, we saw hundreds of greater and lesser flamingos, lured here by the abundance of algae. There were also bunches of great white pelicans, grey-headed gulls and a lone yellow-billed stork. The number of bird species you can see at this park in the Rift Valley totals some 450.

Chasing buffaloes 
Buffalo, Kenya
​Who would have thought that working to clear an airstrip would be so much fun? When we were due to leave Loldia House, an askari on a motorbike was clearing the landing strip (a very rough-and-ready one) of zebra and buck so the single-prop plane could land. Then he phoned to ask our guide to chase off six buffaloes with the vehicle because it would be too dangerous on a bike. We were game to tag along. The buffaloes were a bit stubborn but we banged on doors and eventually they clustered under a tree in the shade, from where they wouldn’t be moved. Our guide decided it was far enough away not to be a problem for the pilot. Mission accomplished.

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Highlights of Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za

24 Comments
Penny link
8/7/2017 12:06:36 pm

I love the idea of having meals on the lawns. It sounds so quaint and peaceful! I wish I didn't live in the city. The noise and the pollution sure get to you.

Reply
Roxanne
8/7/2017 12:17:54 pm

Soooo peaceful, Penny, and the view of the lake was gorgeous. It made me feel as though I was living in an earlier and more elegant age.

Reply
Sandy
8/7/2017 12:28:39 pm

What an experience. Meals on the cascading lawns looks great. Roxanne don't you need an extra traveling partner?!You seem to completing my bucket list.

Reply
Roxanne
8/7/2017 01:57:09 pm

Unfortunately (for you) I already have a travelling partner, Sandy! And we still have a lot of our own wish lists to complete. That's the trouble: the more you travel the more places you want to go.

Reply
Miranda link
8/7/2017 07:22:39 pm

So cool that you got to see so many beautiful animals! & even got to get in on the action of herding buffalo ;) What an awesome experience!

Reply
Roxanne
8/7/2017 08:37:19 pm

Yes, it was fun, Miranda, thought "herding buffalo" might be pushing it somewhat!

Reply
Ketki link
8/7/2017 08:09:14 pm

Such gorgeous photographs. My husband jeep stelling me about all these places in Kenya as he lived there for many years and it is so on my bucket list!

Reply
Roxanne
8/7/2017 08:36:07 pm

It's been on my bucket list for years, Ketki, and the trip was amazing, especially since I'm a safari and wildlife nut.

Reply
C-Ludik link
8/7/2017 08:45:33 pm

These lakes lakes Naivasha and Nakuru are astonishing places to visit ! The area seems to have such an abundance wildlife. I have seen buffaloes, zebras, giraffes and antilopes in South Africa national parks but I have never seen an Aardvark but this animal looks pretty.

Reply
Roxanne
8/7/2017 08:51:48 pm

I love wildlife and saw some interesting animals in Kenya, like this aardvark and my first ever gerenuk - a really interesting antelope with a small head and very long neck.

Reply
Kate link
8/7/2017 09:16:53 pm

This sounds like such a cultural experience. Love all the unique wildlife. Your photos of them are amazing!

Reply
Roxanne
9/7/2017 09:27:51 am

Not so much a cultural experience as visiting Maasai villages in Kenya and Tanzania, which we did on the same trip, Kate. But this certainly fulfilled a yearning to visit theGreat Rift Valley.

Reply
Heather link
10/7/2017 01:11:35 pm

Yay, you saw an aardvark too!

Reply
Roxanne
10/7/2017 03:05:27 pm

Yay, aardvarks rock! Technically, Heather, it's my second aardvark ever, but a much better sighting than the first.

Reply
Steph @ The Pink Backpack
10/7/2017 07:47:33 pm

This is incredible! I actually hadn't heard of Lake Naivasha so I am so happy to have come across this post for next time I'm in Kenya. I'm hoping to return next year. Your photos are stunning; its crazy, I actually didn't realize Aardvarks were native to that area - so interesting!

Reply
Roxanne
10/7/2017 08:22:33 pm

Thanks for your comment, Steph, it's always great to have something to lure you back to a place worth exploring further. More posts about the area coming up, so stay tuned :-)

Reply
JAMES
26/1/2019 01:31:09 pm

Can't wait to see this for myself! I am planning a vacation in Kenya with a couple who are friends of mine. Her family lives on a small farm about 20 km outside of Nairobi which is where we'll be staying.

Reply
Roxanne
26/1/2019 08:49:50 pm

Ah, you won't regret it, James. Everyone has to visit the Maasai Mara at least once in their lifetime, but don't underestimate the beauty of Lakes Naivasha and Nakuru. Kenyans are so friendly too. Have a blast.

Reply
Mila Pereira
27/1/2019 08:08:36 pm

Do you have a picture of the Stagg's Hotel in Nakuru in the 1940"s?
I stayed there as child and need it for the book I',m writing.

Mila.

Reply
Roxanne Reid
27/1/2019 08:11:54 pm

No, sorry.

Reply
emily link
18/2/2019 04:32:29 pm

Lake Naivasha is always an ideal weekend getaway location. Your article captures the location very well. Quite inspiring for anyone looking to enjoy the Lakes of Kenya.

Reply
Roxanne
19/2/2019 07:18:54 am

How I wish we lived near enough for Lake Naivasha to be an easy weekend getaway, Emily! I'd go there often.

Reply
Aleck stanton
2/11/2019 02:29:07 am

Brings back beautiful memories of school in the1950 era and subsequent living, thank you

Reply
Roxanne
4/11/2019 10:58:41 am

Oh wow, Aleck, you're so lucky to have lived there in that beautiful part of the world. I wonder when last you were there?

Reply

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    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
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