Lake Elmenteita is a soda lake located in Kenya’s Great Rift Valley, approximately 120 kilometers northwest of Nairobi. In the Maasai language, Elmenteita is derived from muteita, which translates as “dust place.” This is a reference to the dryness and dustiness of the area, which is most noticeable between January and March. The town of Gilgil is located next to the lake. Elmenteita is located halfway between Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru in the Rift Valley’s south-to-north chain of lakes. Nairobi-Nakuru highway (A104 Road) runs along the neighboring cliff, providing travelers with a beautiful view of the lake and the surrounding countryside. Because of the lake’s abundant birdlife, it is now a protected area. It is designated UNESCO World Heritage Site with Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria.
Located at the south end of the lake are the “Kekopey” hot springs, home to a population of Lake Magadi tilapia, which were introduced into the lake to breed. Great fishing grounds for night herons and pelicans can be found in the neighboring reed beds.
When Lord Delamere (1879-1931) established Soysambu, a 190-square-kilometer (48,000-acre) ranch on the lake’s western side, the Lake Elmenteita area became its site first white community. Delamere’s brother-in-law, the Honorable Galbraith Lowry Egerton Cole (1881-1929). He received the acreage on the other side of the lake, which is now protected as the Lake Elementaita Lodge. Cole’s “Kekopey Ranch,” where he is buried, is part of the Lake Elementaita Lodge’s grounds.
Lord Delamere’s heirs still owned and operated, including the controversial[?] Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley was involved in establishing the Soysambu conservancy in the first place. The conservancy encompasses two-thirds of the seashore and is home to more than 12000 wild animals.
Since 2005, Lake Elmenteita has been designated as a Ramsar site.
According to research, the Lake Nakuru/Lake Elmenteita basin has around 400 bird species. Elmenteita is a popular destination for visiting flamingos of the more extensive and lesser species, which feed on insect larvae, the lake’s crustacean, and the lake’s suspended blue-green algae, respectively. Since the introduction of Lake Magadi tilapia to the lake from Lake Magadi in 1962, the flamingo population has suffered a significant reduction. The tilapia attract many fish-eating birds, which also prey on the flamingo eggs and chicks present. Lake Natron in Tanzania is reportedly home to more than one million birds that used to breed at Elmenteita and have now taken sanctuary there.
Wildlife such as zebra, gazelle, eland, and warthog herds graze on the lake’s edge, as do warthog families.
In dry seasons, the lake is generally relatively shallow (less than 1 m deep) and surrounded by trona-encrusted mudflats, a landscape feature. During the early Holocene and the late Pleistocene, Lake Elmenteita and an expanded Lake Nakuru were joined together, resulting in a much bigger dilute lake. The remnants of the old combined lake have been preserved as sediments in various locations throughout the lake basins, including along former shorelines.
The lake level and the number of flamingoes have declined in recent years due to increased human activity drying up catchment areas.