Lake Naivasha is a freshwater lake forming part of the Great Rift Valley, and lays North West of Nairobi. The name derives from the local Maasai name Nai’posha, meaning “rough water” because of the sudden storms which can arise. The lake has a surface area of 139 square km, and is surrounded by a swamp which covers an area of 64 square km, but this can vary depending on rainfall. The lake has an average depth of 6 m with the deepest area being at Crescent Island, at a maximum depth of 30 m. The lake is home to a variety of wildlife; over 400 different species of bird have been reported. There is also sizeable population of hippos in the lake.
Between 1937 and 1950 the lake was used as a landing place for water planes on the Imperial Airways passenger and mail route from Southampton in Britain to South Africa. It linked Kisimu and Nairobi. Joy Adamson, author of Born Free, lived on the shores of the lake in the mid-1960s. There is the option to visit her residence for high tea and have a taste of a colonial time gone by.