Lake Nakuru is coming up as one of the most populated towns in Kenya which makes sense, since at the heart of it is the beautiful National Park, Lake Nakuru. Located in the Great Rift Valley, it’s known for its flocks of flamingos and massive birds like eagles and giant pelicans all along the lake. There’s also an incredible amount of wildlife here, and is an excellent place to try and see the rhino, if you’re trying to check off your animals of The Big Five. We saw four when we were here, which was incredible.
How to get to Lake Nakuru?
Lake Nakuru is about a three hour drive from Nairobi. We booked a day safari and the guide picked us up from Nairobi. We booked our day tour through this company. It’s good to have a guide to take you through the park, so coupling the ride up from the safari we found was more cost effective than booking a driver to take you to the park, then a guide separately. However, you can easily hire a driver to take you up to Nakuru and hire a tour guide separately, but I don’t think this would make a lot of sense.
Side note, if you’re planning to visit The Great Rift Valley in East Africa, Lake Nakuru is wonderful to couple with Lake Naivasha which is an hour away from Nakuru. You’ll find the two are quite different from one another, so visiting both is worthwhile. Our guide dropped us off back at Lake Naivasha for a few night’s stay on the return.
Lake Nakuru Itinerary, what can you expect?
You’ll be mainly on a game drive when you’re in this park. You’ll circle the lake, and weave in and out of the park searching for wildlife. At the end of our journey our guide took us to lunch at a beautiful hotel overlooking the lake, where we were surrounded by baboons and animals by the hotel’s pool. We had a beer to end an incredible day and very quality lunch.
What kind of animals will I see at the park?
We saw SO much wildlife here. To start, four rhinos throughout our time the park. They’re pretty shy animals so are always a tough one to see. We also saw a lion pride later in the day. We saw a ton of monkeys including Vervet monkeys (aka the blue balled monkey), and many baboons. We also had great sightings of giraffes, zebras, gazelle, buffaloes, and waterbuck. Due to the lake, this park is known for its aquatic bird life including but definitely not limited to – the great white pelican, starling, flamingos, eagles, cranes, and so many others. We easily spotted 20 different species with the naked eye while we were here.
How long should I spend here?
We spent the full day in Nakuru, and saw a very large portion of the park. You could certainly spend two days here driving around the entire lake, but we saw so many animals in the half day that we were there, I don’t think it’s needed. I would personally recommend only one day here exploring. And then I’d spend some of my travel time at Lake Naivasha enjoying the scenery.
What should I bring?
Since you’ll be in the car, you really just need to wear comfy clothes for the day. You may need a sweater since it can cool down at times. Also always bring sunscreen, a hat, and mosquito repellant just in case.
Hot tip: definitely buy a pair of binoculars before going on safari. They came in handy a lot, which we didn’t expect. We found that having binoculars at all the parks we visited was actually quite helpful. You’ll be able to see everything from the car, but to observe up-close it’s nice to bring along.
Entrance Fees
As with every National Park in Kenya, you’ll pay pricey entrance fee to get into the park. It was roughly $60 USD/person for the daily entrance fee. They prefer you pay with your credit card at most places or local transaction app called M-PESA, which you can only sign up for if you’re a local.
Ultimately we definitely thought this was worth the trip out for the day. We saw a lot of wildlife here that we weren’t able to experience at other parks and its natural beauty was absolutely worth the visit.
What a Lovely Place 
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