Lake Nakuru National Park

Lake Nakuru National Park was created in 1961. It is a salt water lake. Rhinos and flamingos are the star attractions at this park. We were not disappointed. Look at these photos. The last one was the biggest surprise.

Megan, Mia, Jackson, Grandma Kathy, and Papa Neil



Baboons



Impala





Zebra





Water Buffalo





Flamingos





Lizzard



Giraffe



Rhino





Pelicans (we saw hundreds of pelicans today)





This was the greatest surprise of the day! The photo is a bit dark, but we saw a lion up in a tree. We watched him slowly climb down the tree limb and go off into the brush. It was close to diner time. This was amazing!!

Kissing Giraffes

In 1979 a Scottish earl, Jock Leslie-Melville, opened a giraffe breeding center. There are three varieties of giraffes: reticulated giraffes, Masai giraffes, and Rothschild giraffes. The Rothschild is an endangered species. In 1979 there were only 130 Rothschild giraffes left in Africa. The Giraffe Center opened and breeding of these beautiful animals started. There are now over 300 of the giraffes. After they are born here at the center, they are released into the wild, mostly near the Lake Nakuru area in Kenya.

We started our visit at the Giraffe Center with a morning kiss.





















There are warthogs that live near the center as well. The guides call them the vacuum cleaners. They eat up the pellets that are dropped and not eaten by the giraffes.





Jackson actually liked feeding the warthogs more than the giraffes.



We also got to see four tortoises. Here's one of them.



We bought carved wooden birds for everyone.



And Jackson says, "When we're at the Giraffe Center, it's hot. When it's hot we should eat ice cream." So, ice cream it was!!



As we arrived back at Tyler and Amy's house, we found a Jackson chameleon crossing the sidewalk. What a treat!

Nairobi National Park

Nairobi National Park is absolutely amazing! It is only about a 15 minute drive from the city center. You can see the city skyline in the background while you're in the park.

We saw some animals in this park that we didn't see in Amboseli.

Perhaps the most amazing things we saw was a couple of lionesses stalking a small herd of Cokes Hartebeest. In this photo you can see the lioness crawling along in the grass. We stopped the vehicle, Amy and I stood on top and we watched for about 20 minutes. I was sure that we were going to see something amazing, but fortunately for the Hartebeest, the lionesses didn't get them.



We talked to another driver in the park who said that one of the lionesses had three small cubs near the river. What a proud looking animal.



With a group of Masai Warriors



Warthogs butting heads







Crocodile



Grey Heron



Turtles



Zebra



Topi



Giraffe



Ostrich



Giraffe and Zebra