One of the high points of the TBI Field School is the trip to Central Island. We visited the island at the end of the ecology module just over a week ago.
Central Island is a unique and stunning volcanic island in the very middle of Lake Turkana. Rising out of the blue-green waters, it is a strange and wonderful place that surely counts as one of the most remote places in East Africa. Within the island are three lakes, that are in themselves islands as they are separated from each other and the main lake by the volcanic craters.
We took a boat ride from Ferguson’s Gulf to get to the island:
Boat ride to Central Island!
We visited the Flamingo Crater first. A short steep climb to the crater’s rim gave us spectacular views over the lake with it’s pink confetti dusting of lesser flamingoes:
View over Central Island’s Flamingo Crater
Students Mackenzie, Vaishnavi, Patrick and Chelsea take in the view from the crater’s rim
Flocks of flamingoes kept arriving – many of them have flown hundreds of kilometers to get to the island:
Flamingoes in the sky
Fall 2013 Field School Students
From the Flamingo Crater we went around to the ‘Crocodile Lake’ where we hiked along the rim and looked out over the stunning views.
Looking west over Lake Turkana from Central Island
Looking south over Lake Turkana from Central Island
For more information on the ecology and natural history of Central Island, here is a link to an article:
Natural History article on Central Island
More from the field soon!
