Lake Naivasha national park

A common break on a road trip to the Masai Mara is a night at Lake Naivasha, one of the only freshwater lakes in the Great Rift Valley. The lake supplies water for nearby agriculture such as the many rose and flower farms which supply Kenya’s famous roses which are exported around the World. 

The Lake is home to laughing pods of hippopotamus and boat excursions to see the varied waterfowl are popular. Trips to Crescent Island are a fun activity. This moon-shaped is home to Giraffe and Zebra which have become accustomed to people and visitors can spend a couple of hours exploring the island on foot getting up close to these animals, creating wonderful photo opportunities. There are several lodges on the lakeshore and shaggy Waterbuck graze on the shore under the Fever trees here.

Lake Naivasha is a 15-minute flight from Nairobi and there are daily domestic flights. There are also many private airstrips in the region where there are charter flights. The Masai Mara is a 40-minute flight away. To travel by road from Nairobi takes about 1 ½ hours along a scenic route through the highlands and down the Rift Valley Escarpment. This road is often very busy with traffic.