Game Driving in the Lake Nakuru National Park
Today was fully dedicated to game driving. Since animals can be observed best during the early morning and late afternoon we left the camp very early at 6am. It was only a 20-30 min drive to the gate of the Lake Nakuru National Park where we arrived at sunrise. To have enough space during the full day game drive we hired three vehicles, one jeep and two minibuses, although all of us would have fitted into just one minibus. At the gate we purchased our entry tickets to the park which were with 75 USD quite expensive.
Game driving at Lake Nakuru is basically following a dirt road around the lake. We were positively surprised by the amount and diversity of the animals which we were able to spot: buffalos, zebras, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, baboons, lions, hyenas, flamingos and pelicans… Only the lions were laying in the high grass maybe 50 metres away from us so we could only see their heads and tails. We also tried to spot leopards in the trees but didn’t see any.
Game driving in the morning lasted until 11:30am. We took an extended lunch break until 3:30pm in the Lake Nakuru Lodge which is a very beautiful spot overlooking the national park. The main reason for the long break is the heat at noon which makes most animals taking a nap in the shadow of the trees and bushes so they are harder to spot. The lodge was featuring a nice swimming pool and internet access which many of us enjoyed. The internet access was the most expensive one I have seen in a long time. The charge was 25 Kenyan Schilling per minute which makes it 1,500 Kenyan Schilling (18.75 USD) an hour. However, Michelle and I convinced them to provide us with the WiFi password for 1,200 Kenyan Schilling for unlimited usage during our four hour stay at the lodge and we split the cost between the both of us. Usually internet access in Kenya is much cheaper and in the internet cafés I have used so far I didn’t pay more than one Kenyan Schilling per minute which makes it 60 Kenyan Schilling (0.75 USD) an hour.
During the afternoon game drive we basically saw the same kind of animals than in the morning so we left the park already shortly after 5pm and drove back to the camp. After arrival I had a nice hot shower, probably the best one I had since the beginning of my trip in Cairo.
Dinner was prepared by the staff of the campsite. Since the camp is associated with a farm they grow lots of vegetables in the surrounding area and they raise animals as well. Therefore, we had a very tasty organic dinner prepared with local products from the surrounding fields. It consisted of a vegetable soup for starter, chicken stew with rice and vegetables as the main course and chocolate cake for desert.
