Lake Elmenteita

The Sleeping Warrior

Sascha and I tagged along with Gerard who was meeting Somali colleagues at the Serena Lake Elmenteita Camp last weekend. It was quite a luxurious place with sleeping tents that really didn't have much to do with tents anymore (luxury bathroom and every comfort you could want). Lake Elmenteita is about 2.5 hours drive north of Nairobi, between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru. It is a salt water lake in which little can survive, but which nurtures crustacean and insect larvae that flamingos feed on. The camp is located in the private Soysambu Conservancy which Sascha and I explored with a guide. The pictures below are from that game drive, during which I was driving our 'new' old 4wd car.

Sascha with our guide Gilbert overlooking the lake. To Gilbert's right the hill is called "The Sleeping Warrior". Can you make it out?

The Sleeping Warrior

A male Water Buck

A rare sighting of a black and white Colobus monkeys

...taking a dust bath. The name elmenteita is derived from the Maasai word 'muteita' meaning 'dust place'.

Another extremely rare sighting: a leopard trying to stay cool on a hot sunny day.

Crowned Cranes

Water Buffalo, which are considered the most dangerous animal to humans in Kenya as they kill more people than any other animal. The second most dangerous are hippos. Both charge at the sight of a walking person and both are astoundingly fast runners.