The Eiffel Tower with scaffolding. The Charles Bridge works. A blackout Times Square. Falls Iguazú Waterless. The elevator Empire States spoiled. We travel, too often, behind postcards that do not support footnotes page. And if, to reach, postcard is withered, the colors are just as bright as expected or, simply, what we see has nothing to do with what we dream, disappointment often obscures the nuances, those that distinguish a simple trip an unforgettable experience. Fortunately, the elevator of the Empire works like clockwork and the Eiffel Tower does not generally require scaffolding. But, with Nature, everything is different.
A 156 kilometers northwest of Nairobi is one of those postcards, one of those places where we expect everything to be developed as a perfect symphony. Few would know to place the Lago Nakuru Map of Kenya, but almost all have seen the amazing choreography of thousands of flamingos flying over the savannah as a bird fan film Disney. That which the ornithologist Yorker Roger Tory Peterson (always willing to carve a naturalist round phrase on a fascinating landscape) defined as "the most breathtaking bird show in the world". And when traveling towards Nakuru you do, especially, behind that image, some even with the firm conviction that, if all does not go as planned, your money back. Poco matter that this park a natural focus 450 species of birds in their almost 190 square kilometers. The flamingos have to fly.
We travel, too often, behind postcards that do not support footnotes page
Despite the legions of flamingos have been dwindling (eventually totaled almost a million copies) the "Pink Lake" annually attracts more than 100.000 Turistas. A handful of dollars to ensure their survival but, while, a potential threat by the massive presence of vehicles and waste buildup in neighboring Nakuru, one of the biggest cities in Kenya.
At the entrance to the reserve, no flamingos, but a pinch of reality: the guard asks for a credit card to collect the tickets. It is a landscape of acacia forests yellow trunk and euphorbias, them distinctive "cactus chandelier". The vegetation is condensed at each step as we move towards the lake, rainy season that can reach 40 square kilometers, from the undergrowth overlooking the horn of a black rhino that stirs up the passage, eager to get to the edge of Nakuru before it starts to rain.
Almost everyone has seen the amazing choreography of thousands of flamingos flying over Lake Nakuru
Once there, we got out of the vehicles with raincoats on while the water begins to fall. We walked for traces of salt marsh, the bottom of the lake in the rainy season. Now, the water surface is reduced to just five square miles. The flock of flamingos is confused with hundreds of white pelicans obscene Gill. With the camera ready, tourists expect to witness the desired flight, that British writer Evelyn Waugh he evoked the "dust from a carpet to shake". The sun is setting and the theory is that this is the most propitious time for birds to paint the sky wakes fuchsia. But the Flemish, today, have other plans.
The afternoon downpour hampers uncomfortable waiting and photographs. The sudden emergence of the rainbow on the horizon as African revives, for a second, them hope to return home with her one dream. The Flemish, oblivious to everything, strive as in free parasites plumage with the beak or stir the waters of the lake in search of algae. "The most breathtaking bird show in the world" will be locked on a postcard, on a National Geographic documentary. And it should be.
The Flemish, today, have other plans. "The most breathtaking bird show in the world" will be locked on a postcard
It's the first lesson you get the natural parks of Africa and we have to learn soon. Running behind a postcard has the disadvantage of losing many more on the way. Back Sarova Lion Hill, the disappointment was munching on some fellow road. But, en only half an hour, We saw a leopard watch a baby gazelle in grassland; clueless ostriches along with a large group of antelopes; a jirafas Baringo (moved half a century of neighboring Eldoret, which ruined the crops) ramoneando tree branches, and enjoyed the acacias lit by the sun about to give up. A show that did not deserve the bad taste of a few hundreds of flamingos reluctant to fly. Because today, simply, not played.
