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Nakuru Region

 North of Lake Naivasha is Nakuru, the fourth largest town in Kenya. This agriculturally oriented area is home to Lake Nakuru, one of the Rift Valley soda lakes. Lake Nakuru is best known for its thousands, sometimes millions of flamingoes nesting along the shores. The surface of the shallow lake is often hardly recognizable due to the continually shifting mass of pink. The number of flamingoes on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Rocks. Also of interest, an area of 188 km around the lake fenced off as a sanctuary to protect Rothchild giraffe and black rhinos.
Other sites of interest around Nakuru include Menengai Crater, an extinct volcano 2,490 m (8,167 feet) high. The views of the crater itself, as well as the surrounding countryside, are spectacular.
Hyrax Hill Prehistoric Site, discovered by the Leakeys in 1926, is considered a major Neolithic and Iron Age site. The adjoining museum features finds from various nearby excavations.
The second largest surviving volcanic crater in the world, the Menengai Crater, is 2,242 meters above sea level at its highest point. The crater plunges 483m down from the rim and the summit is accessible by foot or vehicle 8km from the main road. The mountain is also surrounded by a nature reserve.
Mount Longonot is the highest of the Rift Valley volcanoes. The crater is approximately 1km in diameter and forms an almost perfect circle. The crater floor supports its own fertile ecosystem. Allow up to six hours for the steep climb up from the ranger station and around the circumference of the rim.
Nyahururu is a small market town north of Nakuru that evolved as a result of the railway in 1929. Dubbed "T-Falls" by locals, Nyahururu was one of the last White settlements to be established in the colonial era. The town is home to Thomson's Falls, the 72m-high waterfall on the Ewaso Narok river. The falls cascade 72 meters into a gorge beside the Thomson Falls Lodge. There is a precarious path to the bottom, but take great care should you venture down the slippery slope.

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