KenyaPlus — homeWildlife encounters
Soda lakes rimmed with flamingos, with geysers hissing on the shore: the Rift Valley lakes feel like another planet, a few hours' drive from Nairobi.
KenyaPlus's own description. The facts below come from the sources shown.
Photo: Syllabub · CC BY-SA 3.0 · original
Resized to 1,920 px wide and metadata removed; displayed cropped to fit. All photo credits
A series of spectacular hot springs and geysers lies along the lake's western shore.
Sources: Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership (opens in a new tab); Nature Kenya (opens in a new tab) · checked 18 Oct 2026
More in the guide: Lake Bogoria: hot springs, geysers and flamingos
The lake is a feeding site for the near-threatened lesser flamingo; it has had the highest numbers in Kenya's annual waterbird counts since 2019.
Source: Nature Kenya (opens in a new tab) · checked 18 Oct 2026
More in the guide: Lake Bogoria: hot springs, geysers and flamingos
The lake is very shallow and strongly alkaline. It is famous for flamingos, but their numbers rise and fall sharply and unpredictably.
Source: Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership (opens in a new tab) · checked 16 Oct 2026
With Lake Nakuru and Lake Elementaita it forms the Kenya Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre (opens in a new tab) · checked 18 Oct 2026
More in the guide: Lake Bogoria: hot springs, geysers and flamingos
Photo: Zammerman · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
Resized to 1,920 px wide and metadata removed; displayed cropped to fit. All photo credits
Wildlife encounters
Four places where checked sources record the endangered black rhino.
Where: Nairobi · Lake Nakuru · Aberdare National Park · Mount Kenya
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
Resized to 1,920 px wide and metadata removed; displayed cropped to fit. All photo credits
Wildlife encounters
Herds of wildebeest and zebras plunging into the Mara River.
Where: Maasai Mara
Photo: Alexmbogo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · original
Resized to 1,920 px wide and metadata removed; displayed cropped to fit. All photo credits
Wildlife encounters
Lions, rhinos and giraffes, a short drive from central Nairobi.
Where: Nairobi
Photo: U.S. Department of State · Public domain · original
Resized to 1,920 px wide and metadata removed; displayed cropped to fit. All photo credits
Wildlife encounters
Watch rescued orphans run out of the forest at the Sheldrick nursery.
Where: Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nursery
_Mara_River_crossing_2d.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}