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!

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

View over Central Island’s Flamingo Crater

 

Students take in the view from the crater's rim

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

Flamingoes in the sky

 

Fall 2013 Field School Students

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 south over Lake Turkana from Central Island

Looking west over Lake Turkana from Central Island

 

Looking south 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!