July in Kenya is a good time to go on safari. The Great Animal Migration ("greatest animal show on earth") would have already started with millions of animals making their way from the Serengeti plains of Tanzania to the Masai Mara of Kenya.
But first, we made our way to the Lake Nakuru National Park, famous for its flocks upon flocks of pink flamingoes. The Lesser Flamingoes (Phoeniconaias minor) are the smallest among the flamingoes of the world. With their pink feathers, boomerang-shaped bills, red long legs and long necks, I was suitably awestruck by these beauties.
We got off our van to go to the water's edge for a closer look while our driver kept a careful anxious eye out for the nearby rhinos and buffaloes. Lesser Flamingoes feed by holding their bills upside down in the water and using their tongues to suck in water and mud. Filters in their beaks (much like that of baleen whales) trap algae, small insects, and crustaceans like brine shrimps and so on. It is their algae diet which gives them their rich pink color. As we watched them feed, I noticed how efficient (and noisy!) they were in finding food. Imagine thousands of birds feeding - a real cacophony!
We also had our first up close look at white rhinos, olive baboons, black and white striped zebras, black and white colobus monkeys and grey and white vervet monkenys. (So much color, huh!) ;)
There are two kinds of rhinos in Kenya - the rarer black rhino known for its high-strung temperament and the much calmer White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). White rhinos can be found at the Lake Nakuru National Park. Our first sighting had us grabbing for our cameras. He (or she) was quite shy and quickly disappeared into the bush. According to Wikipedia, rhinos are one of the few megafauna species left in the world. Behind the elephant, it is probably the most massive land creature existing in the world today along with the hippo of which it compares in size. This rhino we saw is probably around 2,700 kilograms. Hmmmmm...!
A little further on, we saw a troop of olive baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis). Particularly endearing was this mother and child....
And this Papa Baboon, Mama Baboon, and Baby Baboon!
These baboons may look cute and cuddly but they can be aggressive. They like to eat everything they can find from up the trees to the ground - from leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, roots, lichens, moss to mushrooms, corms, tubers, etc. Baboons will even hunt for small animal! Baboons have been known to hunt for and eat gazelles.
All photos by Marlene C. Francia
A little further on, we saw a troop of olive baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis). Particularly endearing was this mother and child....
And this Papa Baboon, Mama Baboon, and Baby Baboon!
These baboons may look cute and cuddly but they can be aggressive. They like to eat everything they can find from up the trees to the ground - from leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, roots, lichens, moss to mushrooms, corms, tubers, etc. Baboons will even hunt for small animal! Baboons have been known to hunt for and eat gazelles.
All photos by Marlene C. Francia
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