Kenya Safari 2006 - Lake Baringo
Posted on 17/12/07 12:53
Here's the latest instalment of photos from our safari to Kenya last year. Out third port of call was Lake Baringo. Lake Baringo is one of only two freshwater lakes in the rift valley, unlike Lake Nakuru (which was our next stop, but I've already posted about it). The road from Mount Kenya was rather mixed. An initial tarmac section was swapped for a fairly good off-road track to get further west, and then another good section of tarmac took us a long way north. However, closer to Lake Baringo, the road had been washed away, so we had some rather jarring off-road sections across dry river beds for the last hour or so. On arrival our first stop was Lake Baringo Club, a pleasant oasis after the last bone-crunching section of the journey. We watched the local birdlife flitting in and out of the fruit trees in the garden whilst out guide sorted out what happened next. Finally we load ourselves and our luggage onto a small boat/large canoe to head over to Island Camp on Ol Kokwa Island.
Island Camp is a fantastic location. Accommodation is in "tents", but although they are partly canvas structures, they are pretty permanent (the back wall of ours was stone, and the roof was thatch on a wooden structure), and well fitted out - definitely luxury camping, not backpacking! Even better, the end of the tent opens to views across the lake and we spent plenty of time just sat here watching birds and lizards in the trees at the lake side, plus pied kingfishers fishing on the lake.
After recovering from the journey, we went for a bit of a wander. It's definitely not a place for those of limited mobility - Island Camp is on the side of the hill, and there are steps everywhere. There's a couple of bars/lounge areas/garden areas for guests to sit and relax. Unlike Samburu, Masai Mara etc, there's no big game, but there are birds everywhere, and Island Camp is well placed amongst the trees for you to get quite close to them. Definitely a bird watchers paradise!
The only downside is the amount of time we spent there - we arrived for a late lunch, and left early next morning for Lake Nakuru. It was a lovely, relaxing location, and definitely on our list of places to go back to if we return to Kenya, but probably staying for a couple of days. Oh, and next time I want to take a 600mm lens with me too!
The best of the photos are in my Kenya set on Flickr, and the rest are in the Lake Baringo section of the Kenya album on this site. Enjoy!
Island Camp is a fantastic location. Accommodation is in "tents", but although they are partly canvas structures, they are pretty permanent (the back wall of ours was stone, and the roof was thatch on a wooden structure), and well fitted out - definitely luxury camping, not backpacking! Even better, the end of the tent opens to views across the lake and we spent plenty of time just sat here watching birds and lizards in the trees at the lake side, plus pied kingfishers fishing on the lake.
After recovering from the journey, we went for a bit of a wander. It's definitely not a place for those of limited mobility - Island Camp is on the side of the hill, and there are steps everywhere. There's a couple of bars/lounge areas/garden areas for guests to sit and relax. Unlike Samburu, Masai Mara etc, there's no big game, but there are birds everywhere, and Island Camp is well placed amongst the trees for you to get quite close to them. Definitely a bird watchers paradise!
The only downside is the amount of time we spent there - we arrived for a late lunch, and left early next morning for Lake Nakuru. It was a lovely, relaxing location, and definitely on our list of places to go back to if we return to Kenya, but probably staying for a couple of days. Oh, and next time I want to take a 600mm lens with me too!
The best of the photos are in my Kenya set on Flickr, and the rest are in the Lake Baringo section of the Kenya album on this site. Enjoy!
