The Rift Valley Lakes are a string of freshwater and soda lakes running from Lake Turkana in the north to Lake Magadi in southeastern Kenya. The soda lakes – Bogoria, Nakuru, Elementeita and Magadi – are renowned for the colourful spectacle of massed flamingos. With over 400 bird species, the freshwater lakes are a magnet for birders. Lake Naivasha, just a couple of hours’ drive from Nairobi, is an excellent place to start a Kenya holiday. The Great Rift Valley, which stretches almost 6000 kilometres from Lebanon to Mozambique, runs through Kenya and is a natural divide between west and east. It is a landscape of forested mountains and semi-active volcanoes, gorges and dramatic escarpments, geysers and hot springs, inhospitable desert and fertile farmland; and the chain of freshwater and alkaline lakes running from Lake Turkana in the north to Lake Magadi in southeastern Kenya.