Impressions of Kenya
Kenya is understandably one of the most touristy countries in Africa. Indeed, nothing equals the view of whole herds of elephant in Amboseli NP approaching their habitual watering hole from the hazy early morning horizon, or a lion family and a solitary cheetah or leopard in Masai Mara lazily digesting their copious night catch. And the Indian Ocean beaches are as idyllic as can be, with tall palm trees casting their wavy shadows over the blindingly white sand, which gently fuses into the turquoise water line.
But there is also another Kenya, a rougher and much harsher one. The Kenya where visitors are themselves more or less curiosities, the land of the rugged stone desert of Chalbi in the North, the baking hot shores of crocodile infested Lake Turkana, where the sheer subsistence of a colourful multitude of proud, self-conscious tribes is in itself a miracle. Kenya has many faces, and we humbly tried to get acquainted with several of them.
Before visiting the place of your choice:
Just across the Equator into the Southern hemisphere and at an elevation of nearly 1,900 metres, Lake Naivasha is situated at the highest spot in Kenyan of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Naivasha is a freshwater deposit, unlike the alkaline lakes Turkana and Bogoria, for instance. It is surrounded by swampy flooding areas, an ideal habitat for plenty of bird species, such as the slightly creepy marabou storks, to the contrary gracious pelicans and large colonies of cormorants. Lake Naivasha also counts sizeable herds of hippopotamus. The mountainous road from Lake Naivasha to Nairobi passes by the Great Rift Escarpment, with gorgeous views over the rift valley.
