Travel Guide | Etosha National Park | Namibia
Going on Safari in Etosha National Park - Namibia's greatest wildlife reserve
Text | Anninka Kraus
Photography | Tobias Kraus
Namibia
Etosha National Park is Namibia’s greatest wildlife reserve, located in north-western Namibia. The park is half the size of Switzerland and home to an abundance of wildlife and 4 of the Big 5, including the seriously endangered black rhino. Going on safari in Etosha, you’re guaranteed exceptional wildlife sightings at the park’s many waterholes.
Etosha’s most notable feature however is the Etosha Pan, an immense salt pan that occupies almost a quarter of the park, approximately 5000km², which is large enough to be visible from space. The rest of Etosha is more habitable, grassland and mopane woodland.
Elephants romping about in a waterhole in Etosha National Park.
what to expect.
Visit the greatest wildlife sanctuary in Namibia and walk onto the Etosha Pan, a flat, dazzlingly white salt pan so large it is visible from space
Exceptional wildlife sightings at the park’s many waterholes, especially in winter when game gathers there
Etosha is home to 4 of the Big 5: the elephant, lion, leopard, and black rhinoceros
Rest camps inside the national park offer floodlit waterholes for game viewing at dawn and dusk
location & visitor information.
How to get to Etosha National Park: Namibia is a country in southwest Africa, sharing landborders with South Africa, Botswana, Angola and Zambia. Etosha National Park is a 4-hour drive north from Windhoek. The park has four entrances: the von Lindequist Gate in the east, in the south the Andersson Gate, in the north the Nahale IyaMpinga-Tor (also called the King Nehale Gate) and the Otjovasondu Gate in the west. Travelling from Windhoek, the nearest gate will be Andersson’s Gate.
When to visit Etosha National Park: The best time to visit Etosha National Park is in winter (May – October), during the dry season when game is concentrated at the waterholes and the grass is low.
How to get around: Etosha is accessible in a regular sedan car. The roads are gravelled and a 4WD is not necessary. Visitors must register at one of the park entrances, pay the entrance free (NAD 80-00 per adult per day at the time) and show proof of identification. Opening and closing times change daily and are based on sunrise and sunset. Check times here. Gates close at sunset and open at sunrise.
Where to stay in Etosha: There are six rest camps inside the park that provide a range of accommodation, restaurants, shops and petrol stations. Most importantly there’s a floodlit waterhole at every rest camp and viewing platforms for exceptional wildlife sightings at dawn and dusk.
We camped at several of the rest camps on our first visit to the park and stayed at the Onguma Tented Camp just outside the park gates on our second visit. The latter was definitely more comfortable but we had to wait until the park gates opened at sunrise to get into the park.
On Safari in Etosha
Our guide stopped the safari vehicle on an elevation overlooking a waterhole surrounded by tall grass. At first, we saw nothing except water and grass, but then, by wriggling her ears, a lioness gave the pride away. Four of these elegant, sleek cats lazed near the waterhole, well camouflaged by grass, its colour identical to that of their golden fur. Only the pair of ears and a large paw hinted at the imminent danger to a springbok herd as it cautiously approached the waterhole.
I was surprised by the prey’s ability to sense the danger and relay their unease down the line. For minutes at a time, they stopped, transfixed with uncertainty and visible discomfort, before advancing a few steps, only to retreat again. They huddled together at all time as if knowing one animal on its own would be doomed (which it undoubtedly would be) and while they couldn’t see the eagle-eyed lionesses flexing their muscles, their sleek bodies tightening in anticipation, ready to pounce on their lunch, their anxiety and fear were palpable.
The herd of springbok retreated, obviously deciding it was too dangerous, and promptly encountered a herd of zebras that had been wearily following in their wake, possibly thinking: ‘Let’s just see how this goes down before we jump the lunch queue.’ Springboks and zebras stood together as if debating whom to sacrifice before they all decisively turned around and trotted off in search for a waterhole not infested with lions.
This was but one of our many encounters with wildlife approaching within 10 metres of the truck in the two days we explored Etosha National Park – Namibia’s greatest wildlife reserve – wide-eyed with amazement. I would have been happy with elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, zebras, springbok, kudus, warthogs, squirrels, and running chickens (my personal favourite) but we also spotted four of the big five game animals – lions, leopards, rhinoceros, and elephants (the Cape buffalo is extinct in Etosha).
Watching a leopard was a very rare treat, our guide told us, who himself last spotted one of the shy, well-camouflaged cats in this park in 2008. Seeing a rhino is also quite a treat and it wasn’t until the evening of our second day that we saw four of the highly endangered black rhinoceros gathered around a floodlit waterhole.
Their numbers or locations are not disclosed to protect them from poachers, so the fact that we saw them at the water’s edge, illuminated by weak spotlights when despite a dark storm front approaching with ominous winds and thunderbolts, we decided to walk to the waterhole one last time, was quite lucky.
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