Lake Naivasha

Lake Naivasha is a large freshwater lake in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya. While river-fed, Naivasha does not have a river outlet. Lakes of this type are usually salty. The geology of the Rift Valley is such that most lakes are high in soda, so that makes the fresh-water nature of the lake even more unique.

Lake Naivasha was our first stop after leaving Nairobi. One of the attractions is Crescent Island Nature Reserve. Within the reserve the major predators are excluded by a fence. Visitors are allowed to walk among the grazers that inhabit the area.

You go to Crescent Island by boat. The viewing of wildlife from the water would be a highlight of this stop. The image below is a Cape Buffalo feeding in the shallows, with a harem of Impala grazing on the shore beyond.



The boatmen knew how to call the local African Fish Eagles to come for small fish that the boatmen bring along. The following photos are of a couple of the eagles that came for the food.

And you can't visit almost any body of water in Kenya and not see Hippos!

While not geographically a part of the Maasai Mara, Lake Naivasha was a great up-close introduction to the wildlife of Kenya

- Dale

Our previous posts on Kenya

- The Maasai Mara

Photo Adventure - Squaw Creek NWR

Sunday dawned gray, but the day quickly turned into broken sun and clouds. I decided to take a drive up to Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. It is one of the prime waterfowl and eagle watching spots in the midwest during the fall migration. We are far enough south that it serves as an over-wintering spot for eagles.

The waterfowl migration is well underway. Over 80,000 Snow and Blue Geese reported on the refuge. Over 20,000 ducks, dark geese, coots, etc. in addition. The eagle migration is behind schedule. We saw a dozen to two dozen birds on one section of the refuge. There was only one in adult plumage, but the younger eagles were fighting over food which was interesting to watch.

This was just a scouting trip. I've got to work on my wildlife technique as well!