Spotting wildlife

Victor takes a boat trip across Lake Naivasha for the first time.

It is a great place to spot hippos and birds, as well as antelope, giraffes and zebras. It is also home to hundreds of fish and freshwater organisms.

Lake Naivasha is the main source of drinking water, employment and income for the local people.

Victor demonstrates where the water’s edge used to reach. Drought and unregulated use of the water, mainly by the flower industry, are responsible for a serious decline in the water levels.

Roses exported all over the world

If you were lucky enough to receive a red rose on Valentine's Day, the chances are it came from Kenya, more than 4,000 miles away.

Kenya has become Europe’s main supplier of fresh cut flowers.  One in three roses sold will be from Kenya and most will have been grown on the shores of one of the most beautiful freshwater lakes in the world, Kenya's Lake Naivasha.

From an economic point of view, the flower industry has been extremely successful, bringing jobs to the area and wealth to Kenya.  However, it has also caused serious environmental damage to the lake and its wildlife.

Victor drove five hours to Lake Naivasha and visited one of the flower farms. The farmer told Victor they'd had a very hectic week in the run-up to Valentine's Day. Three million stems were exported in just one week, one-and-a-half times the usual volume.

But the farmer doesn’t mention the problems of chemical pollution in the lake from the pesticides used in the industry or the fact that the local fishing industry has declined. Even the Maasai people have stopped bringing their cattle here, because their animals get sick drinking the lake’s water.