Lake Naivasha boating and fly fishing day trip is a full day excursion in the Lake Naivasha –a beautiful rift valley freshwater lake and popular day trip getaway.
0730 Hours: Lake Naivasha boating and fly fishing day trip starts after breakfast from your Nairobi hotel. Best Lake Naivasha Day Trip allows you to take great hippo pictures on a Lake Naivasha 1 day boating trip or a 2 days Naivasha overnight safari.
0830 Hours: Stopover at the Great Rift Valley viewpoint to learn how and when the Great Rift Valley system was formed.
Lake Naivasha boating & fly fishing day trip is a favourite 1-day excursion from Nairobi to go and enjoy a boat ride in this magnificent lake. Fly fishing is also great pass time in the lake using anglers. A one day trip to Lake Naivasha can also include a walking safari on the crescent island among giraffes, zebras, gazelles and many other animals.
A boat ride on lake Naivasha takes you close up with the hippos in the water and you will be able to watch them at a close point as they rest among the reeds. There are also hundreds of birds to see in the lake including the famous fish eagle and the cormorants. The shores of the lake is littered with wildlife including buffalos, zebras, giraffes among others.
Fishing is allowed by paying a license fee per fishing rod but you are not allowed to take away the fish. Fly fishing in Lake Naivasha is a fun activity as you have a chance to hook ….large-mouth bass, blue-spotted tilapia, common carp, oreochromis leucostictus, nile tilapia, red belly tilapia, guppy, barbus amphigramma. You will be angling from a small motorboat and the pilot will guide you to the fish rich areas where you are guaranteed some nice catch.
1000 Hours: Arrival at Lake Naivasha Sopa lodge and start a of your boating trip on the lake. Enjoy a 4-5 hour boating and fishing ride in the lake as you watch the hippos and thousands of bird species. Do fly fishing at the popular sites while returning the fish in the water.
0130 Hours: Drop at the crescent island for a quick picnic packed lunch at the shores and continue with a walking around the island among the giraffes, zebras, and gazelles.
0230 Hours: Continue with your walk around the island and return to the boat by 3:00pm. Return to the boat and head out to Elsamere conservation centre for high tea and a visit to the information centre to learn about conservation efforts of George and Joy Adamson and the ‘Born Free’ movie about Elsa the lioness.
1730 Hours: Drive back to Nairobi and check into your hotel at 1930 hours.
End of trip
Cost of Lake Naivasha Boating and Fly Fishing day-Trip available on request
Inclusions
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Transport to and from Nairobi
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Services of a driver-guide and fishing guide
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Boat riding fees
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A daily Fishing license fee
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High Tea at Elsamere Conservation Centre and museum visit
Exclusions
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Items of a personal nature
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Drinks and beverages besides what’s included above
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Tips to drivers and guides
Lake Naivasha Information
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake in Kenya, outside the town of Naivasha in Nakuru County, which lies north-west of Nairobi. It is part of the Great Rift Valley. The name derives from the local Maasai name Nai'posha, meaning "rough water" because of the sudden storms which can arise.
Location
Lake Naivasha is at the highest elevation of the Kenyan Rift valley at 1,884 metres (6,181 ft) in a complex geological combination of volcanic rocks and sedimentary deposits from a larger Pleistocene era lake. Apart from transient streams, the lake is fed by the perennial Malewa and Gilgil rivers. There is no visible outlet, but since the lake water is relatively fresh it is assumed to have an underground outflow.
The lake has a surface area of 139 km² and is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square km, but this can vary largely depending on rainfall. It is situated at an altitude of 1,884 metres (6,180 ft). The lake has an average depth of 6 m (20 ft), with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, at a maximum depth of 30 m (100 ft). Njorowa Gorge used to form the lake's outlet, but it is now high above the lake and forms the entrance to Hell's Gate National Park. The town of Naivasha (formerly East Nakuru) lies on the north-east edge of the lake.
Ecology
The lake is home to a variety of types of wildlife including over 400 different species of bird and a sizeable population of hippos. The fish community in the lake has been highly variable over time, influenced by changes in climate, fishing effort and the introduction of invasive species. The most recent shift in the fish population followed the accidental introduction of common carp in 2001. Nine years later, in 2010, common carp accounted for over 90% of the mass of fish caught in the lake.
There are two smaller lakes in the vicinity of Lake Naivasha: Lake Oloiden and Lake Sonachi (a green crater lake). The Crater Lake Game Sanctuary lies nearby, while the lakeshore is known for its population of European immigrants and settlers.
History
Between 1937 and 1950, the lake was used as a landing place for flying boats on the Imperial Airways passenger and mail route from Southampton in Britain to South Africa. It linked Kisumu and Nairobi. Joy Adamson, the author of Born Free, lived on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s. On the shores of the lake is Oserian ("Djinn Palace"), which gained notoriety in the Happy Valley days between the two world wars. It now forms part of the Oserian flower farm. In 1999, the Lake Naivasha Riparian Association received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award for its conservation efforts regarding the Lake Naivasha Ramsar site.
Agriculture and Industry
Floriculture forms the main industry around the lake. However, the largely unregulated use of lake water for irrigation is reducing the level of the lake and is the subject of concern in Kenya. Fishing in the lake is also another source of employment and income for the local population. The lake varies in level greatly and almost dried up entirely in the 1890s. Lake levels in general follow the rainfall pattern in the catchment area.
In 1981, the first geothermal plant for Lake Naivasha was commissioned and by 1985, a total of 45 MW of electricity was being generated in the area.
The water level for Lake Naivasha reached a low level of 0.6 m depth in 1945, but the water level rose again, with minor drops, to reach a maximum depth nearly 6 m in 1968. There was another major decline of the water level in 1987 when the depth reached 2.25 m above the lake bottom. The decline of the lake water level in 1987 increased concern in the future of the geothermal industry, and it was speculated that Lake Naivasha underground water might be feeding the geothermal reservoir at Olkaria. Hence, the decline in lake water would affect the future of the geothermal industry.
Fishery on Lake Naivasha
Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake situated in the eastern rift valley of Kenya. Only five species of fish are present, all of which have been introduced. They are Oreochromis leucostictus, Tilapia zillii, Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass), Barbus amphigramma and Poecilia reticulata (guppy). The first three of these form the basis of an important gill net fishery and bass are also taken by rod and line for sport. Barbus are occasionally caught by dip net. Actual and potential yields for the Lake Naivasha fishery are discussed and the fishery is shown to be under-performing. The feeding regimes of the commercially exploited fish were examined in the context of available food supply, in particular, the benthic fauna. Small bass depends heavily on Micronecta and large bass mostly take crayfish. Detritus predominate in the diet of Oreochromis leucostictus and Tilapia zillii but the former also eat algae and the latter, Micronecta and macrophyte. Various food resources, especially the benthos, appear to be under-utilized and so it is possible that further species could be introduced to enhance the commercial fishery.
