Reports came in over the holiday period from Ugandan visitors to Lake Nakuru National Park, who claimed that the number of flamingos, numbering in millions in the heydays of the park, were sharply reduced and the visiting experience therefore negatively impacted.
Said one couple: “We went by road to Kenya and drove through the tea fields of Kericho and through Molo to Nakuru. We expected the lake to be painted in pink with Flamingos but were disappointed that the pictures we had seen before were not the reality on the ground. But we saw lots of rhinos and other game to make up for it. We camped, but the rangers also said the water has gone down a lot, and they are all concerned about the future of this park.”
Further inquiries by this correspondent then established that indeed the drought of the past years has impacted on the water level of the lake, likely forcing many of the pink birds to divert to other suitable lakes in the Rift Valley, like Elementaita and Bogoria.
