Namibia is a country on the south-west coast of Africa. It is one of the driest and most sparsely populated countries on earth. The Namib Desert in the west and the Kalahari Desert in the east are separated by the Central Plateau.
Namibia: Etosha National Park
Etosha is one of Africa’s largest game parks, much of which is covered by the silver Etosha salt pan that shimmers in the heat.
Etosha East
The eastern portion of Etosha National Park has a tree-savanna type of vegetation (abounding in tambouti [a deciduous tree that is locally used for furniture and cabinetwork], wild fig, and date palms); moringa trees are typical of the more arid thorn-shrub savanna of the western part of the park. The German colonial fort of Namutoni (originally built in 1901, destroyed in 1904, and reconstructed between 1905 and 1907), at the eastern end of the pan, resembles a fort of the French Foreign Legion. It has been restored for use as a tourist camp for the park.
The best place to see wildlife in Etosha is to head for the waterholes, which is where our driver headed. Things were a little quiet, but we got to see a giraffe en route to the pan, and when we got there a sleepy lioness was wandering around, which put paid to any other animals being there. After a few minutes the lion sauntered off, and so did we.
From the waterhole, we set out for the main pan, which is surrounded by a savannah. It is a huge area and very flat, which means you can see for miles. This grassland attracts a lot of grazing animals, including zebras and wildebeest.
In the distance, we could see some rhinos wandering around, one of which was heading in our general direction. We set off to intercept the path of the rhino, which got smart to this and kept changing its trajectory. It got close enough for us to get a good view. It was a female black rhino. This was the first black rhino we had seen in the wild since beginning our trip through Africa.
As we sat there our guide got a call from another guide about a pair of cheetahs who were close to the road about 20 minutes from where we were. So, we set off in pursuit hoping they would still be there when we arrived.
Approaching the location, we could see a lot of parked game drive vehicles, so we knew we were in luck. Right next to the road were two beautiful cheetahs just happily walking along, seemingly oblivious to the onlooking tourists. This went on for some time, with the cheetahs occasionally stopping for a rest.
Our guide asked if we wanted to move on, as he had heard that a leopard had been spotted close by. We all agreed to go. From the main road, we diverted down a side track. Progress was slow due to some elephants on the road, but we finally got to the spot. The leopard was a distance away lying on a branch of the tree. It was not easy to see, but I managed to get a couple of decent shots with the telephoto lens.
For the afternoon we were on another game, as it turned out with the same three Americans. This time we did not venture into Etosha, instead we stayed inside the Onguma Game Reserve. It was not such an issue as there was plenty of game to see, including lions, giraffes, elephants and steinbok. We also got to see a bird we had not come across before, the pearl chanting goshawk. For a finale, we headed to another waterhole where two elephants were standing guard stopping any other creature from getting close. A giraffe gently sidled up to the waterhole but was summarily shooed away by the elephants. Then a black rhino appeared from the bush, a different kettle of fish from the other animals, but still, it was wary of the elephants and didn’t venture too close.
On the way back to the lodge, we called in at another waterhole we visited earlier. It had been empty then but this time there was a lion hiding in the bushes looking down on a black rhino that had taken advantage of the lack of elephants and was drinking carefree from the pool. These rhinos can be aggressive, but we stayed well back, and it was a lot more interested in the water than us.
Central Etosha
After breakfast we started our journey westwards, first stopping at the Von Lindequist Gate of Etosha National Park to pick up our passes to enter the park. It was a further 14km to Namutoni Camp, one of the main camps inside Etosha. The main building was an old German fort and looks like something out of an old film about the French Foreign Legion. We were not planning to spend much time here, only to pick up some fuel.
The plan was to drive to the central part of Etosha and leave the park via the Anderson Gate, where we would drive a little bit south for an overnight stay at Taleni Etosha Village. This was only 160km away, but we would be driving over dusty, gravel tracks and the plan was to stop and check out several waterholes along the way.
Etosha is a bone-dry desert in the dry season, and the wildlife is drawn to the waterholes which was largely man-made. It was not far from Namutoni to the first waterhole, where we found a small herd of kudus greedily lapping up the water. This was bachelor herd, with one male who had a spectacular set of spiral antlers that make these beasts some impressive.
A bit further on we saw other plains animals, including zebra, giraffes, hartebeest and the oryx, which are particularly well-adapted to the harsh conditions of deserts. Another animal that is frequently sighted in Etosha is the elephant. The elephants of Etosha look almost white as they cover themselves with the white sand of the park, giving them an eery, ghostlike appearance.
Etosha is the most visited National Park in Namibia, but due to its huge size you don’t see many vehicles along the way, and the rest camp game drive vehicles don’t reach most areas. So, for a lot of the time, you feel like you have the place to yourself. Even when animals are sighted there is rarely more than two or three vehicles sharing the experience.
One such time was when two black rhinos appeared out of the bush, right next to the road. There was no one here apart from us. The rhinos tracked along the road for about 10 minutes before disappearing again. It was an amazing and personal experience for the two of us.
We continued on our way, briefly stopping to observe some ostriches, before calling at a couple more waterholes that were packed with animals, including elephants, zebras and antelopes.
After travelling about 70km, which had taken the whole morning with numerous stops along the way, we reached Halali Camp, another major rest camp inside Etosha. It was around lunchtime, so we planned to stop for a pee break, eat some lunch and grab some more fuel. We parked up and found ourselves an empty picnic table. We had some bread and peanut butter, which was going to be the basis of lunch. It was getter very hot and there we were constantly being bombed by flies, so it was not the most relaxing of experiences. So, we quickly gobbled our food, popped into the toilets and headed to the petrol station.
The afternoon followed the rhythm of the morning. We continued our way stopping at several waterholes on the way. Elephants, zebras, wildebeest, and antelopes were common visitors to these. At the last waterhole before heading out of Etosha for the day we hit the jackpot.
There was a small tower of giraffes and a black rhinoceros. We got some great photos!
From this waterhole, it was only a short drive to Okaukuejo, the administrative centre for Etosha National Park. There was also a petrol station here at the resort, so we thought we’d top up before heading out of the park and then we wouldn’t need to fill up the next morning.
Just a few kilometres south of Okaukuejo is the Anderson Gate. We continued south for a bit and turned off the main road to Taleni Etosha Village, where we’d spend the night. At check-in, we informed them that we were vegan or worst-case vegetarian, just in case the message had got lost when the booking was made for us.
The room was large and spacious with very efficient air-conditioning, although the temperatures were not too hot.
At dinner time we headed to the bar where we tried rock shandy for the first time. This is a largely non-alcoholic drink but does include Angostura bitters which gave it a bit of a kick.
The dinner was buffet style, but typical of Namibia was almost completely meat-based. The confusing thing to me was that on the barbecue menu were zebra, kudu and gazelle. Most people were here on safari, presumably to admire the wildlife, why then would you want to eat bush meat for dinner? Anyway, we managed to find enough things to eat. We’d just about finished dinner when a member of staff turned up at our table with another plate of food that the chef had prepared for us especially. We were not that hungry but felt obligated to eat what had been served to us!
Etosha West
After breakfast, we headed back into Etosha, back through the Anderson Gate. Our goal for the day was to reach Dolomite Camp, about 170km from Okaukuejo, which sounds not too bad, but again we’d be travelling on the gravel roads of Etosha. The western side of Etosha is the least visited part of the park, so we expected to see even fewer vehicles than we had on the previous day’s travel.
This part of Etosha is extremely dry and there are few trees. Most of the vegetation is made up of low scrubby bushes. It is hard to believe that many animals live out here. But as we drove, we spotted some creatures which adapted to the arid landscape including hawks and bat-eared foxes that feed on the mice and snakes that roam. Also, wandering around were several ostriches which can survive in the driest of climates.
There a several large waterholes on the way so we planned to take in as many of these as we could. At the second waterhole of the day, Sonderkop, we saw a small pride of lions sitting on a raised piece of the ground looking across to the waterhole where large herds of springboks, zebras and oryx were hanging around. There were also a few ostriches who were strutting around checking out what was going on. The antelopes and zebras were standing close to the waterhole, but not in it as there were three large elephants who were hogging the waterhole. Every time a group of springbok or zebras would move towards the water the elephants would wave a trunk causing them to retreat. No one out here argues with the elephants.
In addition to the elephants, zebras, springboks and oryx, there was the remainder of the pride of lions, about six in total, who had set up camp by the waterhole’s pumping station which provided them with some shade. We were the only car in the parking lot. There was a sign in the parking lot set onto a stone block which read ‘Stay in your vehicle’, right next to which was a lion resting. This seemed to be a case of stating the obvious! The lions didn’t seem to be too hungry and whilst they kept their eyes on the animals around the waterhole, they didn’t seem intent on hunting. The animals at the waterhole seemed to recognise this and didn’t seem to be bothered the lions were there. I suspect though they were watching them out of the corner of their eyes.
As well as the lions there were two jackals who were intent on causing trouble. Though not a big threat to the zebra and antelope, the animals seemed wary of them as they strolled around the waterhole.
The herd of oryx held back from the waterhole, while the zebra and springbok occasionally took their chances with the elephants. But a couple of males decided to battle it out, literally clashing horns with each other. Very exciting!
Whilst the lions seemed most intent on resting than eating, one of their number got up several times and wandered across to the waterhole, taking a wide berth of the elephants. This increased the anxiety of the other animals, whose thirst overcame their desire to run away. This lion decided to do some chasing, which made the antelope and zebras scatter, but the lion soon gave up. It seemed like it was playing rather than hunting. It also chased the jackals, who just about managed to escape the lion’s claws
Joining the other animals at the waterhole was a black rhinoceros, who appeared from the bush. Like all the rest it was wary of the elephants, but still made its way to the edge of the waterhole.
The two jackals decided to come over to where we were parked along with a couple of other vehicles, that had arrived at the waterhole. They worked their way over right next to the cars. One climbed under our car, and we heard some strange noises from below. The people in the car next to us said they were biting on something, so I quickly started the engine which scared them away. We just hoped they had not been nibbling on the brake cable.
We’d spent more than an hour watching the antics of the various animals around the waterhole. It was now time to move on.
About an hour further on we came to another large waterhole, where there was a larger group of elephants including some babies, who were happily splashing in the mud surrounding the waterhole. Sharing the waters with the elephants were zebras, giraffes, springboks, ostriches, oryxes, and a couple of impressive elands. This time there were no lions hanging around, so all the animals looked a lot more relaxed. By now it was lunchtime for us humans, so we enjoyed a sandwich whilst we watched the comings and goings around the waterhole.
After lunch, we continued our journey westwards. The landscape got continuously more barren, except for the occasional area where there was obviously more water stored beneath the surface and some small groups of trees had managed to grow. In these trees, social weaver birds had built huge nests, which looked unworldly wedged in the branches of these leafless trees.
Mid-afternoon we reached the Olifantsrus Campsite. This is a new, camping-only area in the remote western reaches of Etosha. It has limited facilities, but here they have built a two-storey hide, accessible by a raised walkway, next to a waterhole that is popular with elephants. When we reached the hide there were half-a-dozen elephants playing in the waterhole. A couple seemed to be having a loving moment, intertwining their trunks, and another happily spraying himself with water. The hide meant we could safely get within a few feet of these magnificent beasts, who were oblivious to our presence. For about 30 minutes we were captivated by these elephants, who were joined at the waterhole by a couple of eagles.
From Olifantsrus it was another 50km to the Dolomite Resort where we’d be staying the night inside Etosha for the first time. Most of Etosha is flat, but as we approached the resort a few hills rose above the plains. On top of one of these hills, Dolomite Hill, the National Park Service has established 20 permanent luxury tents, together with a restaurant, bar and swimming pool. The resort itself is not accessible by car, so we had to park our vehicle at the bottom and take an electric buggy up to the resort.
Once checked in we followed the narrow, undulating path to our tent. This was most definitely glamping not camping. From our tent we had an impressive view across the plains below, where we could see a small group of black rhinos crossing in the distance. The tent was not very large, and had two levels, with the private bathroom on the upper level.
After settling in for a bit we decided to go and check out the swimming pool. I was not exactly an ‘infinity’ pool, but it did have amazing views, and was perfect for cooling off at the end of a long day of driving.
As we sat eating breakfast, one of the staff told us that a pride of lions had been seen at the waterhole below Dolomite Resort the night before, so we decided as we left, we’d take the short detour to visit the waterhole to see if they were still there.
We were in luck they were still there.
There were around ten lions in this pride including the dominant male, lionesses, juveniles, and cubs. They were obviously not hungry, as they showed no interest in the animals gathered around the waterhole. We were also excited to see a couple of large, male elands had turned up and were making their way towards to water.
We stayed watching for about 20 minutes before heading out.
About Etosha National Park
Covering some 8,598 square miles (22,269 square km), it centres on the Etosha Pan, a vast expanse of salt with lone salt springs, used by animals as salt licks. It has one of the largest populations of big-game species in the world, including lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, elands, zebras, and springbok. Abundant birdlife includes flamingos, vultures, hawks, eagles, ostriches, guinea fowl, and geese.
The eastern portion of Etosha National Park has a tree-savanna type of vegetation (abounding in tambouti [a deciduous tree that is locally used for furniture and cabinetwork], wild fig, and date palms); moringa trees are typical of the more arid thorn-shrub savanna of the western part of the park. The German colonial fort of Namutoni (originally built in 1901, destroyed in 1904, and reconstructed between 1905 and 1907), at the eastern end of the pan, resembles a fort of the French Foreign Legion. It has been restored for use as a tourist camp for the park.
Planning your visit to Etosha National Park
Etosha National Park is located 435km/270mi north of Windhoek. It is easy to visit either independently (self-drive) or on a tour. The drive on paved roads takes about 6 hours*. The roads in the eastern section of the park are accessible by 2WD car.
Most people arrive in Namibia at Hosea Kutako International Airport (WDH), located 40km/25miles east of Windhoek, and start their trip from there by 4×4 vehicle. Fly-in trips are also common, consisting of chartered flights taking travellers from park to park.
| Website: | https://www.etoshanationalpark.org/ |
| Hours: | The times change weekly and are based on Sunrise and Sunset. |
| Fees: | N$150 per adult per day. Children under 16 free Vehicles with 10 seats or less are NAD 50-00 per vehicle per day |
Things to bring:
Car Equipment
| Two spare tires | Seed net/grill | Puncture repair kit | Sand tracks |
| Spade/shovel | High-lift jack | Kinetic strap/rope | Compressor |
| Tire pressure gauge | Car tools and spares |
General:
| Water and food | Fuel | Braai Wood | Flashlight |
| Headlamp | First Aid Kit | Camera | Binoculars |
| Wide-brimmed hat | Sunscreen | Mosquito spray |
Best time to visit Etosha National Park
Best Time: July to September (Animals congregate around the waterholes)
High Season: July to November (The park gets crowded)
Low Season: December to June (Low-season rates may apply)
Best Weather: May to August (Less hot during the day)
Worst WeatherOctober to February (Very hot)May to OctoberDry Season – Winter
Best time for wildlife viewing with large numbers of animals at waterholes The weather is good, although October is very hot 
July to September is the high season and it gets very busy The sky is filled with dust and it can be hazy
November to AprilWet Season – Summer
Rainfall comes as a relief, although it rarely rains for long The landscape is attractive and the skies are clear Wildlife is in peak condition and plenty of babies can be seen Prime birding during the migrant season Animals are dispersed making viewing difficult It tends to be very hotWhere to stay
ETOSHA EAST: ONGUMA RESERVE
Onguma Safari Camps is situated on the eastern border of Etosha National Park, in friendly Namibia. Onguma offers great game viewing, romance, tranquillity, adventure and so much more! With 5 lodges, two campsites and 34 000 hectares of private wilderness to explore, Onguma has an accommodation option that is just right for you!
ETOSHA SOUTH/CENTRAL – TALENI ETOSHA VILLAGE
At Etosha Village nature and luxury are in perfect harmony through design and comfort. Besides the 55 accommodation units and camping facilities, Etosha Village has three restaurant seating areas, a unique bar with a big screen television, a sparkling pool plus two kiddies pools as well as a well-stocked utility and curio shop.
The individual accommodation units offer a spacious air-conditioned bedroom and a modern en-suite bathroom with a shower. The patio and outside seating area create an ideal space to sit back, relax and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.
The Etosha Village Camp Site is nestled in the spectacular green and gold Mopane forests surrounding Etosha National Park, and caters for both Groups as well as individual travellers.
ETOSHA WEST – DOLOMITE CAMP
Etosha’s new and exclusive Dolomite Camp opens up the restricted western side of the park to a limited number of visitors. Guests are accommodated in permanent luxury tents with an elevated view of the endless plains of Etosha National Park in Namibia. The wildlife has developed without human disturbance and rare species such as black rhino and black-faced impala have established themselves in the area. The area is rich in waterholes that attract elephant, rhino, leopard, lion, springbok, gemsbok and red hartebeest. The birdlife is prolific and the seasonal flowers of Dolomite Hill are a highlight for botanists.
More to Explore
