Hi there my hivean friends,
How are you doing?
After a short break from my Namibian travel story I am back on track with it :)
I am looking forward to share my Etosha National Park experience with you. We visited the park in three days. On the first day, there was only afternoon drive, second day was whole day safari and last day it was only morning. If I would be there now I would take at least a week to explore it easily, but I know that everything is connected with so many factors and if we wanted to stick with the plan and see as much as possible, it was the only way to dedicate only 3 days to Etosha.
Today I will write only about first afternoon, the other two days will follow in separate parts soon.
There is not that much to write as nature and wildlife there is speaking for itself and I will try to bring that close to you with photography.
We visited the park by ourselves, so we were self-driving and didn’t go on any safari tours. I found that way of exploring the park even better as you are not dependent of anybody, you can stop at any place you want and for how long you want. Being in a group and having a guide/ranger has some advantages as well of course so the decision is in your hands.
Best period for wildlife seeing in Etosha NP is in dry season which is in African winter time, from May to October. Probably September and October are the best as the vegetation there is at its lowest due to almost no rain for 5 months. Also temperatures are not that hot, so we can breathe easier and animals are more active as well. Another reason why we can see more game it the dry months is because of the low water at the park. Animals has the needs to drink water so they have to come to water holes which are full of water and these are main attraction in that kind of safaris as Etosha is. Bigger chance is also to see predators as they hunt near the waterholes when other animals comes to drink and are not that careful.
I have to admit that I didn’t know exactly all the animals and I thought that antelope is antelope, but there are many difference between them. I was thinking of Impala, Springbok, Damara dik-dik, Hartebeest, Kudu and more. These are all totally different antelopes and can vary greatly in size as well. They are all hunted by big cats, but some of them more others less.
Etosha offers also 4 animals of Big 5. Only Buffalo is not present at the park. From more known animals hippo is also missing in the park, but you have great opportunity to see lion. We saw them first day already. When you are going to safari it is important that there is no guarantee that you will see some animal, as this is not a zoo! This is nature, and animals are walking freely. We saw quite a lot of lions on our trip, when my cousin who went there couple of years after us, didn’t see any. There is also a big factor of luck involved and good sight and attention is also recommendable. Planning of your visit in advance is also a good think that you will know which waterhole to visit and which animals you can expect there. I will write more about Etosha NP waterholes guide in my next part.
So as said lion is quite common in the park, there is also healthy population of black rhinos in the park, a lot of giraffes met us short after entering to the park. Giraffes are really cute, I feel in love with them. They are looking a bit scared and when they are drinking they look really awkward as they are so tall. Elephants are nice of course, really huge animals and the scariest when you are driving through the roads. You never know when any will charge at your vehicle. I don’t like leopard… Why? As you can’t see him! Haha, there is only a small population of them and they are really hard to spot. They like being on the trees and their natural camouflage is doing its part at it. Otherwise really beautiful animal! We saw three leopards in one day at Kruger NP, but more from there some other day.
Zebras are like horses we know better, only that they are even nicer.
Hyenas are really ugly! Uhhh what happened to them. And they are looking so evil. But they are a great find as where they are there was a kill. They and vultures of course.
We also saw jackal which is looking nicer than other carrions.
We could go on and on with listing the animals as there is over 100 mammals only in the park, plus many birds, reptiles etc.
I have to mention also Etosha pan before going to favorite part – photos!
Etosha is known by its salt pan which covers about 23% of total area and is most know geological feature in the park. Some photos of the pan will follow in the second part of my story in about a week or so.
Now enjoy in my gallery from the first day:
After getting back to our lodge in the afternoon we find giraffe on our driveway. She was standing just between our two rooms (houses). At that time you really aware that you are in the wild place.
We ended our first day at Etosha with a great traditional African dinner, where people were singing and dancing. But there was not only culture program, but the best thing was food as usual. I already wrote about how delicious is all this game meat and how well they know to prepare it. It was no different in Etosha Safari Camp.
Thank you very much for taking your time and visit my blog to check my next Namibian experience. Etosha is a real gem and one of the highlights, but what can I say if all the Namibia is a highlight… Safari stayed in my memory and when I was writing this travel story I get a strong wish to go on the safari again in the near future, but that is only a wish for now, who knows when it will become a reality.
Take care, enjoy life and hope to see you soon at my blog again.
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