A chain of lakes, each with a different chemistry and a different list

The road off the Elgeyo escarpment into the Kerio Valley loses 1,200 m in a few kilometres, and the avifauna changes completely on the way down. White-crested Turaco and Hemprich’s Hornbill appear in the wooded gullies, Bristle-crowned Starling on the rocks, and Fox Kestrel hunts the cliff line.

It is usually combined with a Baringo stay or a run through to Kongelai, and it makes a spectacular driving day even between birds.

Nakuru’s water levels have risen dramatically over the past decade, drowning much of the old fever-tree woodland and changing the park’s character. It remains excellent: Great White Pelican in numbers, Greater and Lesser Flamingo when the chemistry suits, and Verreaux’s Eagle from Baboon Cliff.

The acacia belt on the eastern side is the second dependable site in Kenya for Grey-crested Helmetshrike, and the surrounding grassland holds displaying Long-tailed Widowbird through the rains. Both Black and White Rhino are easy here.

Baringo is the most northern-feeling site on a standard Kenya circuit. The cliffs behind the lake hold Verreaux’s Eagle, Hemprich’s Hornbill and Bristle-crowned Starling, and the rocks themselves hold Brown-tailed Rock Chat, a species with a tiny world range centred on this valley.

The acacia around the lake produces Jackson’s Hornbill, Northern Masked Weaver and a superb night-birding list — Slender-tailed Nightjar on the tracks and Three-banded Courser with a spotlight.

Baringo’s local guides are among the best in Africa at pinning roosting owls and nightjars, and a morning with them is worth more than two days working the site alone.