Elementaita is derived from the Maasai word muteita, meaning “dust place”, a reference to the dry and dusty climate of the area especially between January and March. The town of Gilgil is located near the lake. In the south-to-north sequence of Rift Valley lakes, Elementaita is located between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru. The major Nairobi-Nakuru highway runs along the nearby escarpment affording motorists a spectacular vista towards the lake.
At the southern end of the lake lie the “Kekopey” hot springs, in which the Tilapia grahami breed. The reed beds nearby are fishing grounds for night herons and pelicans. Elementaita is now one of Kenya’s main breeding grounds for the great white pelican. Lake Elementaita has been a Ramsar site in 2005 as well as an important bird area.
Lake Elementaita is a popular Kenya Safari destination among birding enthusiast sand is situated in the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley about 30 km from the town of Nakuru, the 18km-square soda lake hosts hundreds of thousands of enthralling flamingos, pelicans, crested grebe and many other birds that dot the waters. Lake Elementaita is a shallow lake with the depth being less than 1 metre in some instances and is bordered by encrusted mudflats during the dry seasons. Zebra, gazelle, eland and warthog graze on the shores of the lake
Over 400 bird species have been recorded in the Lake Nakuru/Lake Elementaita basin. The Elementaita attracts visiting the Greater and Lesser flamingoes that feed on the lake’s crustacean and insect larvae and suspended blue-green algae.
Hyrax Hill is an archeological site that has been home to three settlements, the earliest about 3,000 years ago to the most recent at about 200 years ago around Lake Elementaita. First discovered in 1926 by paleontologist Louis Leakey, while excavating a nearby site, he found evidence of prehistoric habitation at Hyrax Hill. Eleven years later, his wife, Mary Leakey, noted several more sites, including a stone walled fort and a group of pits. A large collection of items were found in the burial pits at Hyrax Hill on and around the hill including pottery fragments and Indian coins, one of them 500 years old, two of them dating from 1918 and 1919.
Kariandusi Prehistoric Site is another attraction near Lake Elementaita. The Leakey’s discovered Stone-Age hand axes, obsidian or black volcanic glass knives and a molar of the straight-tusked elephant between 1929 and 1947. Gambles Cave, located southwest of Lake Elementaita, is another well-known archeological site
We have several conservancies around Lake Elementaita bit the most notable one is Soysambu Conservancy.
The Conservancy features volcanic hills, rolling plains, dense acacia woodlands and a substantial part of Lake Elementaita, the ancestral home of thousands of flamingos and their attendant cast of pelicans, cormorants, waders and storks. Within the shelter of the crater, wander large herds of buffalo, within the acacia thickets graze the rare Rothschild’s giraffe, and across the plains bound an ever-shifting kaleidoscope of plain’s game. Long protected from the impact of mass-tourism, the Conservancy also provides sanctuary for a wide range of predators, including the shy and secretive leopard.
Activities include: Bush Dining, Sun-downers, Game Drives, Walks & Climbs, Family Friendly, Wellness & Beauty, and Excursions & Day Trips. Your options in this conservancy are endless.
Lake Elementaita is a great safari stops over and can be combined with safaris to Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru National Park, and Lake Bogoria and or Lake Baringo tour. It offers excellent accommodation from Luxury tented camps to great safari lodges. Camping option are also available
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