The Great Rift Valley is the name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the 6,000 kilometer geographic trench, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa. Today, the term is most often used to refer to the valley of the East African Rift, the divergent plate boundary which extends across eastern Africa.
The rift valley in itself is not really specific destination, rather the geogoly along the rift leaves some stunning scenery, including the lakes and mountains. Our tours often stop at natural viewing points, giving our clients the chance to spend an hour gazing across the rift – an hour well spent!
In Kenya, the valley is deepest to the north of Nairobi and holds the stunning lakes that we regularly incorporate into our tours, including Lake Magadi, Lake Elementeita, Lake Bogoria and Lake Nakuru These lakes in the Eastern Rift have no outet to the sea and tend to be shallow, this gives them a high Mineral content as the evaporation of water leaves the salts behind - Lake Magadi has high concentrations of soda (Sodium carbonate) and Lake Elmenteita, Lake Bogoria, and Lake Nakuru are all strongly alkaline, while the freshwater springs supplying Lake Naivasha are essential to support its current biological variety.
