GRVL Fun Facts

Trees/shrub

Common Name: Broad-leaved Croton

Swahili Name: Mfurufuru

Usage and treatment

Part used: Leaves, fruits, seeds and stem
 Attractive tree often planted to provide shade in plantations
 Stabilizes and enriches the soil
 Seeds are used as a fish poison
 A vegetable salt is prepared from the ashes of the burnt leaves
 Most parts of the plant are used to treat various conditions
 The juice from the leaves is used as an anthelmintic to rid the body of parasites and toxins
 A root decoction is used as an anthelmintic for tapeworm
 The juice is also for dealing with skin problems, applied on wounds to hasten clotting and treat sores, warts and ringworm
 The leaves or young shoots are eaten to treat fever and oedema
 A boiled leaf decoction is drunk, or the ashes taken orally, as a treatment for cough
 A decoction of the young leafy shoots, combined with Justicia schimperiana, pepper, butter and milk, is used in the treatment of jaundice, and for an eruptive disease resembling small-pox
 An extract of leaves is used against itchy scalp, as a purgative, to treat malaria and venereal diseases
 The bark is an ingredient for effective purgative and vermifuge
 The seed is eaten to procure abortion
 A preparation of the seed is instilled into the ear as a remedy for ear-troubles
 The crushed leaves and seed mixed are drunk in water as a remedy for tapeworm.

Fun fact:
 Eburru forest has diverse habitats
 It’s home to 188 known species of birds
 Here are some of the most beautiful ones

Doherty's bush shrike

Eastern double-collared sunbird   

By Kilonzo, senior naturalist at the Great Rift Valley Lodge

Wildlife Thrives In Naivasha

All five zebras at the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort are in good shape. They love the golf course and they have to be constantly shooed away for they love to wallow in the bunkers and destroy the greens with their hooves.

Pili, who is 14 months old is the only zebra who is injured. He hurt his right hind leg recently and was treated by KWS vet. He is improving but limping and although he does not suckle anymore, he follows his mother around.

The Migration In Naivasha

The Maasai Mara is famous for wildebeest but now on Crescent Island in Naivasha, there are herds of them and they move on the Island just as they do between Mara and Serengeti.

Crescent Island is also home to many other plains game like impalas, zebras, Grants’ gazelle, Thomson’s gazelle, waterbuck and others. It’s all the more reason to visit it while you’re staying at the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort.

Crater Lake

Crater Lake near Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley is home to a diversity of plains game and birds. When they are not nesting at Lake Natron in Tanzania, flocks of flamingos fly in to feed on the rich algae.

The lake is only 18 kilometers from the Great Rift Valley Lodge and ideal for day excursions. It’s great for hiking. A walk around the rim of the crater takes two hours. From the southern part of the crater you can see Lake Naivasha and Lake Oloiden which are just 100 meters apart. This is a game sanctuary that is worth visiting for the panoramic views and wildlife.

Heritage Hotels (Kenya) manages The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort in Naivasha, just an hour an a half's drive from Nairobi. The lodge is famous for one the longest holes in Kenya - the par 5 -  17th ‘signature’ at 598 metres (654 yards)!

 ©Heritage Hotels Ltd, Kenya.

Egyptian Geese Compete For Nesting Ground

The flock of Egyptian geese at the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort has been in residence on Caroline Island on the fairway for over five years. For the first time, the flock has successfully hatched nine goslings much to everyone’s delight.

However one of the goslings was killed by the competitors (other geese) who wanted to use the same area for nesting. Eventually the territorial parents managed to win the fight and are raising their goslings on the island and by the water dam.

The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) is a large, distinctive, pale-colored water bird which is easily recognized by the conspicuous dark chocolate-brown patch around its eye. The head and neck are pale buff, and there is another dark brown patch around the base of the beak, usually joined to the eye patch by a narrow line.

Picture courtesy Sarah Joos

The Egyptian goose has buff-colored under parts, which become paler on the flanks and belly, and a variable but distinctive chocolate-brown patch on the lower breast. The upper parts usually vary from reddish- to grey-brown, with a black back, rump and tail, while the crown and back of the neck may show dark mottling, sometimes appearing reddish-brown. There is a narrow, dark reddish-brown collar around the base of the long neck. The ends of the wings are black and bear an iridescent green, which is separated from the contrasting white forewings by a narrow black line. The Egyptian goose has pinkish legs and feet, which become redder in the breeding season. The eyes are orange and the beak is pink, with a black tip, black nostrils and black edges.

Picture courtesy Sarah Joos

The female Egyptian goose resembles the male, but is smaller and often has darker markings on the beak. The sexes can also be distinguished by their calls - the male gives a strong but hoarse hissing sound while the female has a harsh, trumpeting quack. Juvenile Egyptian geese are duller in color, with a grey tinge on the forewings, a darker crown and neck, and a yellowish beak and legs. Juveniles also lack the distinctive dark eye and breast patches of the adult.

Report by Daniel Kilonzo, Resident Naturalist at Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort. Pictures by Sarah Joos via Stock.Xchng.

Heritage Hotels (Kenya) manages The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf resort in Naivasha, just an hour an a half's drive from Nairobi. The lodge is famous for one the longest holes in Kenya - the par 5 -  17th ‘signature’ at 598 metres (654 yards)!
 ©Heritage Hotels Ltd, Kenya.

Eburru Geothermal Power Project In Operation

The Eburru Geothermal Power project close to the Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort is now in operation.

Commenced in 2011, the project is a branch of the famous Olkaria East Geothermal power project. It now supplies five megawatts.

Geothermal energy
It is the natural heat from deep within the earth’s crust stored in rocks and water.

This energy can be extracted by drilling wells to tap steam at depths shallow enough to be economically justifiable. The steam is led through pipes to drive electricity generating turbines.

This technology was pioneered in Italy in 1904.

Kenya is the first African country to tap geothermal power for national development.

Report and pictures by Daniel Kilonzo, Resident Naturalist at Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf Resort

Heritage Hotels (Kenya) manages The Great Rift Valley Lodge and Golf resort in Naivasha, just an hour an a half's drive from Nairobi. The lodge is famous for one the longest holes in Kenya - the par 5 -  17th ‘signature’ at 598 metres (654 yards)!
 
©Heritage Hotels Ltd, Kenya.