SIGHT TO SEE
FLAMINGO LAKE, KENYA
Algal blooms stain the water green and turn thousands of flamingos pink at the world’ s largest permanent desert lake, says Emily Lush
In the far northwest of Kenya’ s Rift Valley, Lake Turkana unrolls like a vast inland sea, stretching 190 miles from end to end and spilling across the border into Ethiopia. Fed by the Omo River and with nowhere to drain, the lake slowly evaporates under the desert heat— temperatures regularly exceed 37C— concentrating salts and minerals until the water turns strongly alkaline.
Central Island National Park, rising from the middle of the lake, is the remnant of a collapsed volcano. Its craters hold three shallow basins, set like bowls within the caldera. When the conditions are right, tens of thousands of lesser flamingos descend on one of them: Flamingo Lake.
To the Turkana people, the lake is known as Anam Ka’ alakol or‘ the sea of many fish’— but fish aren’ t what draws the birds. Flamingos are specialised filter feeders: heads tipped, they sweep their curved bills through the shallows, using comb-like lamellae to strain algae and tiny crustaceans from the water. The pigments in that microscopic soup— cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae that also contributes to the water’ s electric green glow— accumulate in their feathers and beaks, transforming them into shades of coral. Juveniles born elsewhere arrive here dove grey and only blush pink after months of grazing.
The lake is reached on small wooden fishing boats, their hulls skimming across the opaque surface of what’ s been nicknamed the Jade Sea. The number of flamingos fluctuates dramatically throughout the year, so for the most reliable sightings, visit between June and September or January and February.
ESSENTIALS
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Getting to remote Lake Turkana from Nairobi is a long haul: the journey is roughly 500 miles by road, or can be done via a 90-minute domestic flight to Lodwar, the closest airport. Guided boat crossings to Central Island depart from Kalokol or Eliye Springs. Accommodation options are limited to simple lakeside bungalows and mobile tented camps. image: alamy
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