Lake Bogoria National Reserve is in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya , covering Lake Bogoria and the land immediately surrounding the lake. It is administered by the Kenya Wildlife Service .
10-531: The lake lies in a trough below the Ngendelel Escarpment , a sheer wall 600 metres (2,000 ft) high. The lake covers 32 square kilometres (12 sq mi). It is geothermically active on the western shore, with geysers and hot springs. The geologist J.W. Gregory described the lake in 1892 as "the most beautiful view in Africa". The reserve is in a semi-arid area. The only major river feeding
20-573: A less flexible system, created tensions between the Tugen and Camus people, and tensions among the Tugen. Before 2003 the river was illegally diverted for irrigation upstream in the Subukia area, causing it to dry up downstream during a period of drought. In 2003 the Ministry of Water Management and Development proposed to establish river basin catchment committees and water user associations to manage
30-487: A papyrus swamp. The park was opened in November 1970. Facilities for tourists include the park lodge, three public campsites and one privately operated campsite. Visitors may also bathe in the hot springs, which form a natural spa. The reserve was submitted as a candidate World Heritage Site in 1999. The lake is alkaline, feeding blue-green algae which in turn feed flamingoes. At times the number of flamingoes feeding in
40-665: Is made of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which may be polluting the lake. Many visitors are attracted to the hot springs on the western lakeshore, and these cause pollution from solid wastes. Siltation is another threat to biodiversity. Waseges River The Waseges River , or Sandai River , is a river in Kenya . Its source is on the slopes of the Nyandarua Plateau below the Aberdare Range ; it ends its course in lake Bogoria . In 2002 rubies were found in
50-529: The Baringo District Provincial Irrigation Unit (PIU), funded and given technical support by Dutch Aid, aimed to improve the usage of the river waters. The planned irrigation scheme was based on a single large concrete-lined canal feeding just one area. Scheduled for launch in 1983, there were delays due to protests from the local people, and the project was not completed until the 1987/1988 season. The project introduced
60-537: The lake at its northern end. The river is seasonal, and is the main affluent of the lake. The inertial flow of the river may generate counter-clockwise currents in the lake. Its water pH is 8, a mild alcaline level. The Waseges is an important source of irrigation water. With rising populations, by 1985 the Tugen people of Sandai were sometimes refusing to allow their neighbors, the Camus people , to use water from
70-465: The lake is the Waseges River , which rises on the northern slopes of the Aberdare Range . The Waseges runs through productive agricultural land higher up, through bush and scrub used for grazing, and then through very dry bush before entering the lake at its northern end. The lake is surrounded by grasslands dotted with bushes. There is acacia-ficus woodland to the south, and the north merges into
80-612: The lake may be as high as two million. Raptors such as tawny eagles prey on the flamingoes. In total, 135 species of bird have been recorded. They include little grebe, pratincole, swift, little bee-eater, cape wigeon, yellow-billed stork, African spoonbill, augur buzzard, gabar goshawk, water dikkop, great tit, starling, hornbill and crombec. The reserve has a herd of the relatively uncommon Greater Kudu . Other large mammals include buffalo, zebra, cheetah, baboon, warthog, caracal, spotted hyena, impala and dik dik. The Waseges flows through regions of intensive coffee cultivation where heavy use
90-686: The region of the Waseges River. The river flows north, then west and south to enter Lake Bogoria in the Great Rift Valley from the north after passing through the Kesubo swamp. In its upper reaches, the Waseges flows through regions of intensive coffee cultivation where heavy use is made of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Lower down it flows through bush and scrub used for grazing, and then through very dry bush before entering
100-438: The river. The Sandai farmers had been in the habit of cultivating two or three out of six cultivated areas each year. A given area would be farmed for three or four years, then left fallow for up to four years. All the areas are fed by canals from the Waseges, but half the canals will be blocked at any time. Use of the irrigated farm areas involved agreements between the Tugen and Camus people. An irrigation scheme carried out by
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