Etosha National Park
Etosha is the largest reserve in Namibia, in the north of the country. Its salt pan is so vast that it is visible from space! Etosha, roughly translated as “great white place” is one of Africa’s most unique wildlife destination
What to expect in Etosha
It is like a safari park but you get to witness this amazing wildlife from your own car. Spotter stations around the park advise you on where you might find the game or the nearest drinking hole but its up to you to find your route and explore.
There’s no need to head out on long safaris drives in search of a fleeting glimpse of an elephant here; simply pull up at a waterhole, sit tight and wait for the wildlife – including rhinos, giraffes, elephants, lions, cheetahs, zebras and gazelles – to come to you. You might even be lucky enough to see a leopard. During the dry season the concentration of waterhole wildlife is simply astounding.
Covering a whopping 20,000 square km, Etosha National Park is home to 4 of the big 5 including the endangered black rhino, 114 species of mammals and 340 species of birds.
The vast Etosha Pan is a shimmering, almost featureless expanse of clay and salt covering some 5,000sq km and a quarter of the national park. Vegetation here is sparse and limited to short, salt-tolerant grasses, and water is in even shorter supply. Wildlife relies on the permanent small waterholes, which become a magnet for Etosha’s animals throughout the year.
Two Different Seasons
Whilst In the dry season, the animals have to congregate around waterholes in this very dry landscape, creating some of the densest game viewing opportunities in world.
Etosha has two seasons. The wet season runs from November to May and the dry season from June to October. In the wet season the land is green and lush, vegetation thick and roads muddy. The animals spread out over the wide plains and disappear into the bushy shrub. You’ll find driving trickier and some roads even closed.
Endangered Black Rhino
Etosha National Park also houses a thriving population of critically endangered black rhinos. Namibia’s rhino protection programme, as a whole, is considered to be one of the most successful in the world.
A few of the waterholes adjacent to Etosha’s main camps are floodlit at night, offering a unique way to view the animals’ nocturnal activities as you sip a sundowner on a deck, a safe distance away. The waterhole at Okakuejo, for example, attracts black rhino almost every night, along with white rhino, lions and elephants.
San Bushmen
The indigenous hunter-gatherer bushmen, typical of southern Africa, had always called Etosha their home. Sadly, however, the great track record of protecting these rhinos came with a human cost to this success.
In the 1950’s, the Namibian government evicted the San bushmen – Hai//om – from their ancestral lands during the creation of the park.
The legend is that a small village was raided here and its inhabitants all slaughtered save for one woman. She was so upset to lose her whole family that her tears flooded the land, creating a large lake. Once it dried up, the Etosha Pan was formed.
That said, Etosha National Park is a magnificent, authentic way to savour the wildlife in Namibia. If you are visiting Namibia, please do include this unique region in your itinerary. Also, make sure to read my post on this great African country, Namibia!