Etosha National Park, Namibia (May 18-21)

After spending the first 8 days of our tour through Namibia seeing some amazing landscapes like sand dunes, canyons, rock formations and rugged coastline, we were looking forward to our first wildlife safari. We had seen hints of what was to come - zebra, springbok, ostrich, and gemsbok along the roads once in awhile, but nothing could have prepared us for the number of animals we would see in Etosha National Park!

Our first 3 days in Etosha went something like this:

1. Wake up in our trucktop tents an hour before sunrise, make warm drinks and breakfast, pack up camp, and drive to the park gate in time for sunrise.

a typical campsite scene: taking in the morning sunrise while enjoying coffee, tea, hot chocolate and breakfast

2. Wait at the park gates, buy permits, then start driving and looking for animals. Play Van Morrison's "These are the Days" each morning to set the mood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU9mQEmcvFs

Lining up to enter the park as the sunrises - yep, we're keen!

3. Use park map to navigate between waterholes, stopping along the way if we see animals, groups of cars, or vultures in the sky. Take several photos with each sighting. Read about each type of animal seen and record individuals on a tally sheet (use data for some graphing work for kids).

Some of the waterholes were pretty small but they were usually really busy with animal life, especially in the mornings

photogenic zebras

a crowd of vehicles on the side of the road - a sure sign that there is a rare or big animal there - these gatherings were pretty rare, but they allowed us to see resting lions that we never would have noticed otherwise

These vultures were circling above, alerting people to the carcass below

blackbacked jackal feeding on a recent zebra kill while a Cape vulture waits its turn - food chain in action

4. Mid morning treat – 10 am “toffee time”. Toffee time every hour on the hour following that. (Kids became very precise with the hourly ritual, cheering "toffee time" as the alarm they set rang).

5. Find toilet/rest stop on map, drive to it, open huge chain link gate, drive in, close gate, safely get out of car and use facilities. Chat with other people there and exchange sightings and other travel stories. Restock snacks in cab of truck from bins and fridge in the canopy. Drive out of gate, lock it behind us, get binoculars ready for action.

6. Drive around looking for wildlife and taking photos. Stop and park in all kinds of crazy spots and angles to try to get a good view and/or a good photo. Put windows up and down several times to keep dust out when other trucks go by.

Etosha was a lot of flat grassveld or bushveld, with the odd tree, which made it easy to spot the larger animals

7. Eat lunch in the truck or on tables at designated fenced-in rest stop. Stretch if possible.

8. Continue driving around looking in every direction and at every waterhole until mid afternoon.

Sometimes we could see from a distance that a waterhole was really active, so we'd drive over for a closer look

the giraffes always seemed to spend their time nervously looking around, it was rare to see them drink

this one is doing a risk assessment on us!

we saw a herd of elephants walking toward a waterhole so we drove to the waterhole...

...and got there in time to see them run the last few steps and spray themselves with water - pretty playful!

cooling off with gusto!

And... some more cooling off!

9. At about 3:30 pull into park headquarters and stiffly get out of truck to walk to the waterhole there. If possible, bring a cold “sundowner” to enjoy on the bleachers at the waterhole (safely behind a fence).

10. Sit at waterhole for a couple of hours and marvel at the variety of birds, zebras, springboks that seem to be there most of the time. Sometimes, see elephants, giraffes, and rhinos wander in for a sip or a bath. Begrudgingly leave waterhole in time to get out of park before sunset when the gate closes.

evening light at the waterhole makes the scene even more magical

you can see the thatch roof cover over the bleachers we are sitting on, there is also a fence between us and the waterhole

11. Drive to camp, set up, cook and eat dinner, try to check email, give up in frustration at the slow wifi, feel at peace with being out of touch with everyone because what we are doing and seeing is so awesome. Go to bed by 9 pm, sleep fairly well with the odd incidence of waking up when a lion is roaring nearby (at the rehab centre, behind a huge fence).

12. Repeat the next day.

On our last night we got a spot at a campsite inside the park which we were happy about because it meant we could stay at the waterhole as late as we wanted. We took time to swim in the pool, then the kids prepared dinner and brought it to the waterhole where the parents were enjoying a sundowner in the seating area. We stayed at the waterhole with blankets and pillows for several hours after dark, the floodlights allowing us to see the action.

At first there was lots of bird activity, then a rhino wandered in for a drink. A rhino drink seems to be an hour long process because, despite their size and the menacing armour on their forehead, they seem to be quite timid and get spooked easily. It would take a drink, then back up, look around, stand there still for a long time, then move in for another drink.

The rhinos did more looking around than drinking

The first rhino left and another came in, then left when a herd of 11 elephants of all different sizes ambled in, emerging single file from the surrounding mopane forest. Watching elephants approach the watering holes was one of my favorite things, their ears flap and trunks swing as they walk, then once they get within a few meters they pick up the pace and almost run a few steps to the water. There were several large elephants, a few yearlings, and one tiny one that looked like it was really new. The baby stood about 2/3metre tall and it stayed under it’s momma’s belly almost the whole time. The other adults seemed to protect the baby too, staying close to it and keeping it on the inside of the group most of the time. The elephants stayed and drank for quite awhile, taking turns at the edge and walking right in to deeper water at times. It was dark and a bit cold by then, which may be why we didn’t see them spray themselves with water as we had seen a group of 6 elephants do earlier that day at a water hole.

some of the herd getting a drink - the baby is just under the belly of the female in the foreground

Cuteness!

Once the elephants left, 3 rhinos came for a drink and made things a little interesting when they started grunting at each other and manoeuvring for position, eventually causing one of them to leave.

2 rhinos sorting out territory at the water hole

Eventually we got tired and headed back to camp for the night. The next day we left Etsosha but continued to see and count animals even on our way out.

Animal Sightings Tally:

In Etosha we saw “lots” (hundreds) of zebra (est 800), springbok at the waterholes and along the roads.