Etosha National Park

We left the Spitzkoppe behind and headed north to Etosha national park. This was a long drive and I finally plucked up the courage to drive the hire car such that Olly could have a break. Most people know I am a nervous driver and the fast narrow single carriageway roads with many heavy duty lorries and dazzling heat shimmers is really not my cup of tea. Conveniently as I drove the last section it was quite quiet and I only had to overtake one vehicle.

Etosha is a 20,000 sq kilometre reserve which encompasses a large salt pan. This is dry for most of the year and the small watering holes scattered through the park attract a whole host of wildlife. There are a few lodges inside the park which have plush and pricey accommodation, but luckily also reasonably priced camping. The great thing about Etosha is the gravel road which runs through the park, this is accessible to normal (2 wheel drive) cars which means you can go on your own safari in your cheap hire car and avoid the costly tours. November is normally the beginning of the rainy season, however we were lucky that it has been quite dry so far and therefore the only water sources are still the watering holes situated next to the road.

We didn’t really have a plan and as the national park accommodation office was closed on Saturdays we decided just to turn up to the lodge half way through the park and hope they had space. We started our drive through the park and immediately had to stop for a heard of wildebeest to cross the road. We the saw a few groups of antelope and then amazingly three giraffes casually eating some leaves.

Carrying on the drive we saw zebra, an elephant (in the distance), a couple of oryx, and an ostrich. We pulled up to a watering hole and could see a car stopped a little way in front. I thought they were trying not to scare the elephant but when we moved we realised they were actually watching a lioness with her cubs in the shade of a tree. 

We carried on through the park stopping numerous times to look at various animals including what we think were Kori Bustards - the worlds heaviest flying birds. They weigh 15kg and unsurprisingly seldom fly. Fortunately there was ample space at the campsite, we parked up and had some dinner before heading to the camp’s own night lit watering hole. We decided not to put up the tent until we were going to bed as there seemed to be quite a lot of over-friendly wildlife inside the fence (the lodges/campsites have fences to keep the wildlife out, almost like an inverse zoo). During dinner we had to scare off numerous squirrels and even a lizard.

We thought the watering hole was also a bar, but we were quickly disappointed. Instead we sat down with our books and waited for sunset. However we were quickly entertained by a honey badger (also inside the fence) having what looked like an really satisfying scratch on some rocks behind us. It did walk right past us but luckily its reputation (extremely aggressive) was not confirmed and it took no notice of us. 

Just after the sun set we were treated to flocks of noisy birds arriving to drink as well as a jackal. This was followed by some hyena and then suddenly a black rhino! The rhino seemed to take very delicate sips compared to the noisy lapping of the hyena behind it. 

At one point it looked in our direction (probably as the french lady near us kept clicking to get her husbands attention) and I was a little concerned the small fence and pile of rocks between us wouldn’t suffice if it decided to charge. Luckily after squinting at its human audience for a while it went back to drinking. 

When we weren’t watching the rhino there was an impressive thunderstorm in the distance to observe, with brilliant forks of lightning on the horizon. As the rhino was heading back off into the bush there was a power cut and all the lights surrounding the water hole went out. We then heard lots of heavy stumbling around which sounded like the rhino tripping over after having the lights rudely turned out.

Luckily the power came back on and with the rhinos exit we decided also to leave and go to bed. We have been sleeping in just the thin inner of our tent which lets the breeze through. We decided to do the same tonight despite the distant lightning. I was however woken up at 1am to drips of rain on my face. I waited 20 minutes and it seemed to stop, then started again the following hour waking up Olly this time too. After a discussion about whether the rain was going to continue or not it suddenly got heavier and Olly leapt out the tent to put the fly sheet on. It then stopped raining for the night.

We got up early to head to the water hole and observed a whole heard of zebra coming for a morning drink, we then packed up and had breakfast. Olly found a honey badger in the bins which gave him a “so what” look with its head poking out the top. 

We then drove on towards the eastern exit and again were stunned by the numerous zebra, giraffe and “filler” antelope (they were everywhere). There weren’t just big things, we also saw numerous types of bird and even a tortoise which we patiently watched cross the road.

Near the exit we took a small detour off the main road to see a last watering hole and weren’t we glad we did. We were treated to an elephant having a mud bath, with zebra fighting in the background and two giraffes walking past.

We decided to stay at a lodge just outside the park which had good reviews. The good thing about this place was even though we were in the cheap camping area we could use the pool and have drinks in the bar which overlooked the lodge’s watering hole.

That evening we sat with some beers and watched springbok, jackals and numerous terrapins with another great lightning storm on the horizon.

Walking back to the tent I insisted on using a torch which was worthwhile as Olly, in flip flops, narrowly missed standing on a scorpion. We were both really pleased we had visited Etosha and the icing on the cake was seeing a family of cheetah (the most endangered of the big cats) walking up the drive of the lodge on our way back to the main road.