Kenya, Travel

Africa’s Big Five

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If you are lucky enough to get to visit Africa and go on a safari, it is one of the most amazing experiences anyone will ever have while traveling.  You will probably want to go back again as soon as you can as seeing this only once is not going to be enough. 

One of the things I didn’t know before I visited Africa was something referred to as the Big Five.  This is a list of animals who are named the Big Five based on their difficulty to hunt (originally on foot), the danger when hunting them, and also because of the threat from poaching or the decline in their numbers.  The term was then adopted by the tour companies for the main five to try to see when visiting.  They don’t all exist in the same areas, and some are harder to see than others. 

The Big Five include the following:

  • African Bush Elephant
  • African Buffalo
  • African Leopard
  • Black Rhino
  • Lion

We were lucky enough to see all of them on our trip, though we went to Kenya and Tanzania, so we didn’t see the Black Rhino until we got to Tanzania but we got to see the others many times while in Kenya. 

The African Leopard is supposed to be a hard one to get to see but we saw them twice in Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and then saw another in Tanzania.

There are also a few other lists you may hear referred to as well, the Ugly Five and the Shy Five. 

Then there is the Ugly Five:

  • Hyena
  • Marabou Stork
  • Vulture
  • Warthog
  • Wildebeest

The Ugly Five can also be seen on most safaris, we saw them all as well.  Although I have to say that Warthogs were one of my favorites and their ugliness grew on me quickly and I fell in love with them.  They love rolling around in the mud and their horns don’t help with their looks, but you see them running and their tail wagging as they run it is just so adorable.

And the Shy Five:

  • Aardvark
  • Aardwolf
  • Bat-Eared Fox                  
  • Meerkat
  • Porcupine

As far as the Shy Five, we didn’t see any of these except for the bat-eared fox.  Most of these are nocturnal animals out only after dark so not easy to see.  However, we did get to see an termite hill that an Aardvark had obviously been digging at during the night before. 

All of these animals: big, ugly or shy are just amazing to get to see and experience their traits and how they live.  If you are able to make it on a safari in Africa I would suggest jumping at the chance.  Our safaris have been my favorite travel experience of everything we have been lucky to experience.

Note that all photos used in this post were taken by DaisyChainFun.

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Kenya, Travel

Safari in Lake Nakuru National Park In Kenya

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Lake Nakuru National Park is in the Rift Valley in Kenya.  Nukuru means the “dusted place.”  The lake is at 1,754 meters (5754.59 feet) above sea level.  The park is 188 km (73 miles) and was created in 1961. 

It is one of the “soda” lakes of the Rift Valley.  A “soda” lake is a lake with strong alkaline with a pH value between 9-12.  They usually have high concentrations of carbonate salts, like sodium carbonate, and also usually high in sodium chloride making the water saline.  This helps them be highly productive ecosystems compared to freshwater lakes. 

As far as I can tell, Lake Nukuru Lodge is the only place to stay, but it was a nice lodge with great views of the lake, a bar, restaurant and pool. 

Lake Nakuru is mainly known for the migration of thousands Greater Flamingos.  The lake would be hardly recognizable, just shifting of pink.  These days with the changing weather the lake is becoming deeper which means it isn’t creating the regular amount of algae that has always drawn the flamingos to this lake.  The more algae a flamingo eats, the more pink in color they become.  There are still large populations of flamingos coming here, but a lot are finding other lakes in the area like Amboseli and others to go to as well. 

The lake has a lot of other water and wading birds like White Pelican, Avocets and many other along with eagles, storks and so many others. 

The park also has Rhino’s and also Rothchild Giraffe, different than the Maasai Giraffe that are found in other parks in Kenya. 

Hyenas are a large threat to baby rhinos and also to mothers when giving birth.  Baby rhinos will always walk in front of their mother for protection.  They are amazing animals to get to see, but to get to see a baby as well was so exciting. 

For tracking purposes to control their population from extinction, they used to cut the tips of the horn.  Then they tried painting them, but the paint didn’t last.  Now they implant a device by drilling into the horn and placing the device and then patching the hole.  White Rhino’s are basically extinct already. 

The Rothschild Giraffe is one of the most endangered distinct populations with less than 1,400 mature giraffes estimated in the wild.  Rothschilds Giraffe’s have a different color coat but is similar to the Maasai Giraffe so not so easy to tell the difference in Kenya.  It took a bit of searching to get views of these giraffes in the park, but we were able to find them a few times. 

When we first drove into the park we sighted a group of Black and White Columbus monkeys.  They are fairly rare, there are only two families in Nakuru and are considered extinct as they have been killed off for their fur. 

There were also Blue Ball monkey and Olive Baboons.

Another rare sighting we had was seeing Water Bucks, which look similar to elk and are similar in size.  They excrete a skunk like smell from their skin which they use as defense mechanism against predators. 

We also got see some lions, mainly a mother and her two cubs.  The were so adorable as they were playing and annoying their mother as they did so. 

There are large herds of zebra in Lake Nakuru National Park as well. 

This park is small but houses a great number of animals, some that you don’t see in other parks and was definitely worth the visit. 

Note that all photos used in this post were taken by DaisyChainFun.

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