Lake Elmenteita
Lake Elementaita | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 0°27′S 36°15′E / 0.450°S 36.250°E |
Basin countries | Kenya |
Surface area | 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi) |
Surface elevation | 1,670 m (5,480 ft) ASL |
Designated | 5 September 2005 |
Reference no. | 1498[1] |
Lake Elmenteita is a soda lake, in the Great Rift Valley, about 120 km northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.[2]
Geography
Elmenteita is derived from the
At the southern end of the lake are the "Kekopey" hot springs, in which an
History
The Lake Elmenteita area saw its first white settlement when Lord Delamere (1879-1931) established Soysambu, a 190-square-kilometre (48,000-acre) ranch, on the western side of the lake. Delamere gifted the land on the other side of the lake to his brother-in-law, the Honorable Galbraith Lowry Egerton Cole (1881-1929), part of whose "Kekopey Ranch", where he is buried, is preserved today as the Lake Elementaita Lodge.
Soysambu ranch is still occupied by Lord Delamere's descendants, including the controversial[
Lake Elmenteita has been a Ramsar site since 2005.[3]
Ecology
Over 400 bird species have been recorded in the Lake Nakuru/Lake Elmenteita basin. Elmenteita attracts visiting
The lake's shores are grazed by
The lake is normally very shallow (less than 1 m deep) and bordered by trona-encrusted mudflats during the dry seasons. During the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, Lake Elmenteita was at times united with an expanded Lake Nakuru, forming a much larger dilute lake. Remnants of the former joined lake are preserved as sediments at various locations around the lake basins, including former shorelines.
Recently the lake level and number of flamingoes has receded as increased human activity has dried up catchment areas.[4]
Associated sites
Nearby is the Kariandusi Museum, at an important prehistoric site where stone handaxes and cleavers were discovered in 1928 by Louis Leakey.
Elmenteita Badlands is a lava flow to the south of the lake, covered in bush and including some spectacularly scenic peaks.
References
- ^ "Lake Elmenteita". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ISBN 978-3-319-73784-3
- ^ Peck, Dwight (17 September 2005). "Lake Elmenteita added to the Ramsar List". The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Archived from the original on November 14, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ Daily Nation, December 8, 2009: A lake lies on its deathbed Archived 2012-09-15 at the Wayback Machine