Lake Turkana was discovered only in 1888 by the Austrians Teleki and von Hohnel, who named it Rudolf after their archduke and patron. Later it became eulogized as the ‘Jade Sea’ in John Hillaby’s book about his camel trek. The name Turkana only came into being during the wholesale Kenyanization of place names in the 1970s. By then it had also been dubbed the ‘Cradle of Mankind’, due to the existence of Koobi Fora a major paleontological site, which is now ...

Entitled ‘the greatest bird spectacle on earth’ thanks to the millions of fuchsia-pink flamingo that flock to feed on the teeming algae of its alkaline waters, the pink-frosted shores and sky-mirrored waters of Lake Nakuru yield some of the most evocatively beautiful photo-images in Africa.  Small in size, but high in wildlife, this park makes the ideal day trip, enroute to other destinations and abounds in picturesque lookouts and picnic spots. 

Until the end of the 19th century, Baringo and Bogoria were only visited by the slave caravans; the remains of Fort Baringo, dating back to these years, are still visible there. The lake was first described by Joseph Thomson in 1883. Nine years later, in 1892, the English geologist J.W. Gregory explained the Rift Valley creation from his observations at Baringo. Several important archaeological and palaeontological sites, some of which have yielded fossil hominoids and hominins, ...

The ‘Grand Canyon’ at the end of the world: Shimmering in the heat of the spectacularly beautiful but seldom visited Kerio Valley, which furrows the furthest reaches of the Northern Rift Valley, lie the little-known reserves of Lake Kamnarok and Rimoi. Twin sectors of the same eco-system, they are divided both by man and nature: the broad brown reaches of the Kerio River divide them physically, and the boundaries of the Baringo and Keiyo County Councils define ...

A freshwater lake, the highest of the string of lakes that glitter down the vast trench of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha is infamous for its rapidly shifting moods. One minute serene and calm, the next it will be whipped by swirling winds, waves and shadowed by storm clouds – hence its name, which means ‘the place of rough water’. The word Naivasha, is a colonial corruption of the Maasai name Nai’posha, meaning “rough water” caused by afternoon storms.

Originally named Lake Hannington after Bishop Hannington who camped here in 1890 on his way to Uganda (where he was murdered), the lake reverted to its original name at independence.  It is also known as ‘the place of the lost tribe’, local legend dictating that it was formed when the god Chebet punished the Kamale tribe for their inhospitability by invoking a deluge, which drowned the village.  

Lake Elmenteita, also spelled Elementaita, is a soda lake, in the eastern limb of East Africa's Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya. In the south-to-north sequence of Rift Valley lakes, Elmenteita is located between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru. At the southern end of the lake lie the "Kekopey" hot springs, in which the Tilapia Grahamii breed. The reedbeds nearby are fishing grounds for Night Herons and Pelicans. 

The largest tropical lake in the world

Unlike the lakes further west, Lake Victoria is not part of the Rift Valley system and is wide and shallow, being only 80 meters deep. The world’s second largest freshwater lake (after Canada’s Lake Superior), Lake Victoria is fed mainly by rainwater and drains more than 6,450 km to the north, via the Nile, to the Mediterranean Sea.