Etosha National Park: A Week in Africa’s Wild Heart

Etosha National Park was established as a game reserve in 1907 and covers an area of 22 270 square kilometres. It was named after the Etosha Pan which is located in the centre of the park. The salt pan is massive in size, and is an impressive, extremely bright sight. It is the biggest salt pan in Africa. Etosha means Great White Place in the Oshivambo language. During the summer rainy season, October to April, the pan fills with water and attracts many water birds, including large flocks of flamingos. It becomes very dry during the winter months when there is no rainfall at all. There are a lot of waterholes within Etosha to sustain the animals through the extremely dry winter months. These waterholes are fed by boreholes. The vegetation is fairly sparse and there are not many trees either. The park has expansive open spaces, and there are big blue skies, giving one a sense of freedom and openness.

The adventure of our lives

My husband, Steve, our son, Jonathan, and I were very privileged to spend the most out of this world week in Etosha National Park in July this year. It was bucket list stuff. We had wanted to go to Etosha for a long time and decided this was the year to do it. There are six camps within Etosha that offer accommodation, four camps offering chalets and camping, one offering camping only, and the last one offering eco-friendly chalets. We chose to stay in the three largest camps. There are four gates that enter the park.

We stayed in Namutoni camp first, which is in the eastern section of the park.  It is a non self-catering camp and one has to use the restaurant for meals. The area around Namutoni is particularly scenic, with attractive waterholes which game frequent often. There is a small salt pan, Fischer’s Pan, in the area too. It is quite surreal to watch zebra and gemsbok walk in long lines across the pan. There are more trees in the Namutoni area so one sees large herds of giraffe and elephant.

Our next camp was Halali, which was also in a picturesque area. Near Halali, there are numerous beautiful waterholes which gemsbok, springbok, zebra, elephant and giraffe drink at. Halali camp is a self-catering camp, but there is a restaurant and shop too. The camp waterhole is situated at the foot of a craggy hill. The waterhole area is fenced and seating is provided. It is a unique experience to take in the dramatic sunset whilst listening to elephant slurp and play and splash in the water. One can visit the waterhole at night too. We particularly enjoyed watching the very rare black rhino drink at night. To listen to the rhino drink, make grunting sounds and play fight with one another, is an experience we shall never forget.

We drove further west into a much drier Etosha. Some of the waterholes were completely dried up, with animals staring forlornly at the hardened mud. Vegetation was even harder to find and there are far less trees. Our next camp was Okaukuejo. It is a big camp with a restaurant, two shops and a variety of accommodation and camping. The camp waterhole is spectacular. The area around the waterhole is very open, so one can see animals coming from afar to drink. Again, watching the colourful sunsets is breathtaking. The black rhino also frequent this waterhole, and given their near extinction, it is just too magical to see.

There are a variety of animals in Etosha. Large herds of elephant, giraffe, gemsbok, springbok, wildebeest, kudu, and impala are readily seen. There are big cats like lions, leopard and cheetah too, with the small African wildcat also seen. Squirrels and mongoose are also often seen particularly in the camps. Hyena are seen lurking around waterholes. We were overjoyed to see the rare, very shy Damara dik dik, which is a small antelope. Because water is not plentiful, one does not see hippo, buffalo or crocodiles. For bird lovers, there is no shortage of birds; birds of all sizes from the proud ostrich to the tiny swallow tailed bee eater.

To say we enjoyed Etosha is an understatement. We absolutely loved every minute of it. It is quite different to the national parks in South Africa, which are greener and have lots of trees and bushes. It is a fabulous experience, and we were very blessed and so grateful to have experienced it and taken it all in.  We will definitely return. We cannot wait.

Kim Wimberley