Lake Bogoria National Reserve, located in a volcanic, basin region of Kenya, is an amazing natural resource known for it’s countless hot springs and geysers — and huge flocks of stunningly beautiful, pink flamingos that at times can number in the millions.

Created in large part to protect the greater kudu, a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa, the park is also home to herds of gazelle, zebra, warthog, klipspringers, leopards and cheetahs. Still, the main tourist attractions remain the hot springs and those crazy flamingos.

If Lake Bogoria sounds like a little slice of paradise, well, not exactly. Think hot springs, pouring boiling water into a highly caustic lake that is essentially sterile.

Because the lake has no surface outlet, evaporation causes minerals from the hot springs to accumulate, resulting in waters with a pH of 10.5 and salt concentrations up to 100g/L. One of the few organisms that can survive such conditions are cyanobacteria — which flamingos just happen to love.

Now comes the most interesting, and sadly, tragic, part of the story — an incredibly successful, thriving population that has so exploited its environment that it can no longer sustain itself. For the flamingos, a temporary reprieve appears to have been found at a nearby lake.

Still, one can’t help but wonder. If our species was to find itself in a similar situation, where would we go?

– Bob

Flamingos of Bogoria