Flamingo Safari

Flamingos are very sociable, so a flamingo safari is unlike anything else because of the sheer scale of thousands of pink birds, standing on one leg and looking as if they are temporarily walking on water as they take off for flight.

Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya is a protected reserve because of the thousands of flamingos that call it home. The Great Lakes Region of the Great Rift Valley has warm, shallow, alkaline waters that are harmful for us to touch, but are teeming with microscopic life – algae and shrimp – that the flamingos eat and give their normally white feathers a pink colouring!

The alkalinity of the lake decreases with higher rainfall, resulting in less algae food for the flamingos, so they migrate to nearby lakes in Kenya, like Elementaita and Bogoria. Planning your flamingo safari in the dry season of January and February, gives you a higher chance of seeing them in their splendour at Lake Nakuru, but as always with natural wonders, there’s no guarantee which adds an element of anticipation and magic.

The two species of flamingo you will see in Kenya are the pink, small Lesser Flamingo and the whiter coloured Greater Flamingo who stands at about twice the height! They also like to hang out with the Pelicans and 450 other bird species, so it really is a twitcher’s paradise.