Lake Nakuru National Park – 2025 Guide and Review – Kenya, Africa

One of the animals I absolutely needed to see on safari were the large flocks of pink flamingos – and one of the best places to see these flamingos is Lake Nakuru National Park. The pretty pink birds are attracted to this particular lake due to its alkaline waters, which provide a rich source of food in the form of algae and crustaceans.

So when planning my East African safari, I made sure that Lake Nakuru was on the itinerary. One of the park’s most famous attractions is the vast population of flamingos that grace the lake’s shores, creating a stunning pink spectacle. In this blog post, we will explore the best time to visit Lake Nakuru National Park, the optimal time to witness the mesmerizing flamingo flocks, and whether this remarkable destination is truly worth a visit on your Kenya safari. Let’s go!

When is the best time to visit Lake Nakuru to see the flamingos?

Conventional wisdom says ‘dry season’, which is June to October and then January and February. “They” say this about every safari park and conservation area in the East Africa region – and it makes sense – animals are much more easily spotted when the grass isn’t so high.

As for the flamingos, their population at Lake Nakuru is dynamic and can vary significantly throughout the year due to changing environmental conditions – if the lake levels rise too high, the flamingos are less likely to be here. To witness the highest concentration of flamingos, again, it is recommended to visit during the dry season, particularly from July to October. However, it’s essential to note that bird migrations can be unpredictable, so it’s advisable to check with safari tour operators or park authorities for the most up-to-date information.

We visited in early March and definitely saw a ton of flamingos – but I’ve heard that during other times of the year, there are even more of them. So don’t fret if the only time you can visit is outside of the dry season months.

Related: Are you in the initial steps of planning a safari? Read my Crash Course to Planning Your First East Africa Safari!

What other wildlife besides flamingos will I see?

Beyond its iconic flamingos, Lake Nakuru National Park boasts an impressive array of wildlife. The park is home to over 450 bird species, making it a paradise for birdwatchers. Additionally, you can spot a wide variety of mammals, including black and white rhinos, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and you might even see a leopard if you’re lucky. We saw a huge flock of pelicans hanging out at the shore, which I thought was really cool.

Lake Nakuru isn’t a spot where you’re going to see all of the “Big Five” (elephant, cape buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhino) so if you have your heart set on seeing all of the Big Five and only have time for one park or reserve, you might want to pass on Lake Nakuru.

How much is it to visit Lake Nakuru National Park?

The vast majority of visitors will visit Lake Nakuru National Park as part of a safari package, as we did. Safari packages, in general, include your park entry fees so you don’t need to worry about having to cough up cash when you arrive at the gate.

Instead, your driver will park the vehicle, walk to the gate and show the ranger the paperwork. Again, as a tourist on a package deal, you don’t need to worry about a thing. My sister and I hit up the restroom while our driver handled the rest.

But if you arrive here on your own, or your tour operator didn’t include park fees (tsk, tsk), you will pay $60 per adult, per day.

Related: Choosing the right safari tour company is important – read my tips!

How long do I need to visit Lake Nakuru National Park?

One full day or even a 1/2 day is fine; this national park is very small (and you can only take so many photos of flamingos before you get bored!). We did one game drive in the early afternoon when we arrived, and another short morning game drive the next day as we departed for the Maasi Mara Reserve.

Most safari packages that include Lake Nakuru only account for a one-night stay here, which is plenty of time.

Our Experience in Lake Nakuru National Park

We arrived here from Amboseli National Park in the late afternoon (about a 6 hour drive), and did a game drive before heading to the nearby lodge where we were staying the night. On our first game drive, we immediately saw some rhinos (though they were very far off in the distance and we didn’t get good photos), giraffes, cape buffalo, zebras and warthogs. Then, our driver drove us down to the lake where we were able to view the flamingos!

It was spectacular! It was everything I hoped it would be!

Like on nearly all game drives in East Africa, you are not allowed to get out of the vehicle, and the driver has restrictions on how close he can get to the wildlife, as to not disturb or scare the animals. You cannot drive all the way to the shoreline, but you can still get pretty close.

Because of that, I do recommend taking a camera with a decent zoom lens. These photos were taken with a Sony A7IV and Sony A6500, using either a Sony 100-400mm lens or a Sony 200-600mm lens WITH a 1.4x teleconference to increase the lens’ zoom reach.

So if you arrive with just your phone, you won’t get photos like this (but you’ll still get great photos! Even though I had my fancy cameras, I still used my photo to take pics!).

The next morning, we packed our belongings, had breakfast at the lodge, and then went for a quick game drive in the park before we needed to hit the road to our next destination. On this game drive, we again went down to the lake to photograph flamingos and pelicans (there were more flamingos in the morning than we saw in the afternoon), and then went looking for rhinos.

We lucked out and found two rhinos descending down a hill! They walked directly in front of our Land Cruiser – it was amazing seeing them so close! We were able to get some great photos.

Where we stayed when visiting Lake Nakuru National Park

Our safari tour operator booked us one night at the Lake Nakuru Lodge. The lodge is located inside the park gates and is one of the few choices of lodging near this park. I wrote a post about our stay at the Lake Nakuru lodge, so if you’d like to read my review of the Lake Nakuru lodge, check it out!

Is Lake Nakuru Worth Visiting?

This is a question that, in my safari research, got asked a lot. And like everything, it depends on your interests. For me, these pink flamingos were a must-see. I didn’t care that we were going at the start of ‘low season’, I wanted to try my luck – there’s not many places where you can see pink flamingos in this amount all at once – and in the wild! So to me, Lake Nakuru was a definite YES. Here is a link to the official Kenya Wildlife Authority site.

Related: What is a typical day like on safari?

But to others, I can see why you’d be on the fence. If you’ve seen flamingos like this elsewhere in your travels (which I hadn’t), then you might want to skip it. Rhinos are the other frequently-spotted safari animals here, and can be difficult to spot in some of the other parks. I only saw rhinos here at Lake Nakuru and at Nairobi National Park; I didn’t see them anywhere else on my 13 day safari – and that included the Maasai Mara and Serengeti National Park.

Have you been to Lake Nakuru National Park? What did you think?