He passed me (for a fee) into the safe hands of Peter – which seemed like a good name for a boatman – and we headed out into the lake. We saw various birds, which Peter identified for me (fortunately, since my ornithological knowledge leaves just a little to be desired.) Along the way, we say some coots, egrets and others whose names escape me, although they’re pictured here – some knowledgeable person can surely name the ones I’ve missed.
And of course one which I can’t help but quote Lear for:
A wonderful bird is the pelican
It’s beak can hold more that it’s belly can
It takes more at one bite than I can all night
I’m damned if I know how the hell ‘e can
Moving on through the water, I saw what seemed to be some black floating objects. Closer inspection (not too close, fortunately) proved them to be a family of hippos. I gathered from Peter that hippos stick together in families, and are very territorial, so in this area, there was a group of about 25 – you can see a fair number of them in these photos.
We moved on, and Peter picked up a couple of fish from a friend. Seemed a bit strange, I thought, but we moved round the shore, and he pointed out an eagle in a tree. Whistling, he threw the fish into the water, and we watched the eagle fly down and take it.
He returned me to shore, and John and I set off in search of lunch in the Lake Nakuru lodge, which is where I was to say for this night. I’m pleased to say it was much more salubrious, and more in keeping with the way in which I wish to become accustomed.
Having had lunch, we set off on a game drive round the park. The Lake Nakuru reserve is a created one, where once fenced in, most of the animals were “imported”. The only creatures that naturally exist here are the flamingos, which you’ll have all seen on various programmes, pictures, etc. In the process, they didn’t bring many predators – only really leopards – so the animals that are here have an easier time of it than in the Masai Mara.
Amongst other things, we saw black rhino – which are bad tempered, and it truly wouldn’t do to ask then the time of day
and white rhino, which are a great deal friendlier.
Just to confuse the issue, they’re both a fairly grey colour. If you look at the pictures closely, however, you’ll see that the black rhino has a front horn that is more curved (and pointed), and the second horn is fairly pronounced. The white rhino’s front horn is straighter, and the second one is more of a stub. I’m told that the reason for the names is that they have bottom lips of different colour. Strangely, I didn’t get close enough to confirm this – I felt it a little rude before we’d been properly introduced
As we travelled round the park, John pointed out that there was a variation of the buffalo – the water buffalo. They tend to cover themselves in mud and keep it damp in order to keep cool.
Moving on from the muddy beast, we found a Rothschild’s giraffe. The key difference is that this has white legs, but also, if you look closely, you’ll see the skin pattern is different
We also spotted the inevitable baboons – having been warned at the camp to keep doors and windows closed lest they wander in and take off with anything they could grab.
Last, but by no means least, and just as the light was fading, we got down to the lake, and had a look at the flamingos. We were a couple of weeks early to see them in full flood – they travel over from Tanzania particularly to feed on algae in Lake Nakuru – but there was still a fair lining of them:
With that, time to draw a line under the day, and head for the hills – where, fortunately, the lodge was located.
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