Lake Nakuru

Lake Nakuru National Park is one of Kenya's most rewarding compact reserves — a small but wildlife-rich park surrounding an alkaline Rift Valley lake that has long been famous for its flamingos. While flamingo numbers fluctuate with water levels, the park has diversified its appeal by becoming one of Kenya's most successful rhino sanctuaries, with both black and white rhinos now thriving within its fenced boundaries.

The park's varied habitats — lake shore, acacia woodland, grassland, rocky escarpment, and patches of euphorbia forest — support an impressive diversity of wildlife in a compact area. Lions, leopards, buffaloes, Rothschild's giraffes (a rare subspecies), waterbuck, and baboons are regularly seen. The drive along the lake shore with the Rift Valley escarpment rising behind is one of Kenya's most scenic safari routes.