FOUR THINGS TO DO IN ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Visiting Etosha National Park is one of Namibia's most exceptional adventures. This wildlife sanctuary of over 27,000 square kilometers has a protected status that stretches back over a hundred years. Etosha provides a new experience even for seasoned wildlife viewers, and unlike many other African parks, you can explore the vast expanses and numerous waterholes in your own vehicle at your own pace, enjoying a more personal experience with nature.

While the opportunities at Etosha are endless, here are five things we think are great ways to experience this amazing destination:

1. Join the Etosha "Night Life" at Okaukuejo Water Hole

Okaukuejo Camp (pronounced Oh-kah-KEW-yoh) is located just within the park's southernmost entrance, Andersson Gate, and serves as the park's administrative hub. Many visitors to Etosha choose to make use of Okaukuejo's rustic camp site or the chic bungalows for lodging, but the main attraction is the Okaukeujo waterhole. Throughout the day, animals dip in and out to quench their thirst. The big show begins at dusk when floodlights are turned on to transform the waterhole into one of Namibia's greatest stages. You can kick back on the benches that surround the waterhole with a Windhoek lager and watch as the wildlife - unphased by the light - slinks and strolls out of the darkness to the banks of the spring-fed pool. Towering giraffes perch precariously while jackals skittishly circle the perimeter. Rhinos emerge from the distance and tussle for turf throughout the night with heavy thuds. It's not uncommon to see large herds of elephants sharing the pool with lions. Okaukuejo is a must see if you're interested in knowing what Etosha's four-legged residents are up to when the sun goes down.

2. Cool Off at Halali

Etosha gets HOT during the day, and it's rare that you'll see too many creatures wandering around when the sun is high in the sky. They know the best thing to do is find shade and cool off. Follow their lead by visiting Halali Camp at lunch time. Halali is about 45 minutes from Okaukeujo and also offers overnight accommodation. When you arrive, check in at the Halali waterhole's elevated viewing stand. Pending no surprise arrivals, change into your bathing costume and take a dip in the cool waters of the swimming pool. You'll be able to beat the heat and relax amid the camp's quiet, Mopane tree-covered surroundings. Halali also has a restaurants and bar that can help you meet all your body's other needs while you escape the sun.

3. Discover the native Hai||Om Culture

For many thousands of years, the Hai||Om San (or Bushmen) inhabited the areas that now constitute the park. Their intricate society of hunters and gathers attained a rich understanding of local biodiversity - how plants could be used for medicine, and the patterns in animal behavior. In the 1950s, the local Hai||Om population were removed from Etosha, though their cultural identity still strongly remains attached to the area. As their numbers dwindle, the Xoms-|Omis Project has been working with the Hai||om to document the knowledge and skills passed down from generation to generation. Get a uniquely Hai||Om perspective on the plants, animals, history, and geography of Etosha by referencing these guides available to download for free from the Xoms-|Omis Project website. 

 4. Take in the Expanse of the Etosha Pan

When you arrive at the Etosha Pan, it's easy to see why the name roughly translates into "great white space." This 120km-long dry lake bed dominates Etosha's geography. The dizzying experience of being the only vertical object on the horizon is exceptionally humbling. The salt that encrusts the parched mud gives off a startlingly white sheen, making it difficult to see where the pan stops and the sky begins. On rare occasions, rains that sweep across Etosha will leave a small film of water across the pan that lures greater flamingos

Etosha National Park Warnings and Dangers

Do not show your pictures to the lion

Watching animals becomes exiting and in the process one might forget the dangers accompanying the activity. These are wild animals with reflexes of a lightning sometimes within a couple of meters of your vehicle so precautions should be taken at all times. Taking of pictures is main occupation in Etosha but make sure that you do not share them with the lion and be on the alert and on the window leaver of your car all the time.

Animals on the road

It is very common to see all kinds of animals on the road, so be careful and drive slow. If you are not careful you might crash into some poor animal, and worst, you do not want an elephant crash into you.

Stay in your car!

This might seem obvious but some people sometimes seem to forget that wild animals can be dangerous even if they look nice. Our guide told us enough stories of accident.

On this picture below, you can see how close we were from the elephants but luckily, our guide started the car very quickly because this big elephant didn't seem very happy to see us there and began to come in our direction.

When is the right time to visit Etosha National Park?

 Visit Etosha National Park in January

The weather in January tends to represent the start of the wet season. Generally speaking conditions should really start to deteriorate, with increasingly prolonged periods of grey and stormy weather. With the arrival of the rains, temperatures start to fall from their peaks.

In terms of game viewing the arrival of the rains signals a mass exodus away from the dry season waterholes in search of better grazing, making for generally more difficult game viewing. The biggest issue is elephant, which tend to migrate away into the surrounding woodlands and out of range ... it is not unusual to see no elephants at all during this time. Since the rain tends to arrive from the northeast, the game tends to head in this direction and there can be good numbers in view on the plains around Namutoni. Additionally some of species select this time to give birth, most notable amongst which are the young antelopes. The main pan may also start to fill with water, which can attract a good number of waterfowl. Dramatic skies should be a regular feature for photographers.

The visitor numbers in January are usually very high up until the mass departure of the holiday crowds around the 5th of the month. Before this break point crowding around the main restcamps, along the main roads and the more accessible waterholes is a major issue. Trips need to be planned carefully to take this into account and we strongly recommend staying on the private concessions outside the reserve if at all possible. After this date traffic falls to very low issue and the reason to stay in the private reserves outside the park is now more to do with the quality of accommodation and service.

The Etosha Pan

The Etosha Pan is a vast, bare, open expanse of shimmering green and white that covers around 4,800km², almost a quarter of the beautiful Etosha National Park. At 130 km’s long and up to 50km’s wide in places, it is comfortably the largest salt pan in Africa and is the park’s most distinctive and dramatic feature, visible even from space. The pan was originally a lake but over time the earth’s climate forced the rivers that once fed the lake to change course and flow into the Atlantic Ocean. If one were to try find where the lake once lay today, only the dry baked alkaline clay marks would give you a clue.

In the language of the Ovambo tribe, Etosha means ‘great white place’, a name passed on to the first Europeans to come across this “immense hollow”, Sir Francis Galton and Charles Andersson in 1851, with the help of travelling Ovambo traders. The area was originally inhabited by the Heli/ om- people who were well known hunter gatherers and co- existed in harmony with huge herds of wildlife in the area. It was only in 1851 when the huge pan first became known to Europeans. Explorers Charles Andersson and Francis Galton reached a cattle post called Omutjamatunda which is today called Namutoni. The two explorers provided the first written account of the pan.

Salt springs on the pan have now built up little hillocks of clay and salt which are used by some of the park’s wildlife as salt licks. In the wet season, parts of the pan form rain water pools and in particularly wet years the entire pan becomes a lake once more, standing at about 10cm deep and drawing thousands of migrating flamingos.

Etosha Pan is designated as a World Wildlife Fund Ecoregion and was also used as a backdrop during the filming of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

                                       Etosha’s Wildlife

It is hardly a secret that Etosha’s best game viewing is at the many waterholes scattered throughout the park. Especially during the dry winters most species rely on these permanent water sources. The larger waterholes see large treks of zebra and springbok mingle with Oryx and bathing elephants. Some of the camps even offer floodlit waterholes, where you can spot rhino, elephant and lion drinking from the same waterhole.

Etosha National Park is home to four of the Big 5. Elephants and lions are common in the park, while the elusive leopard hides in the densely vegetated areas. However, one of the best reasons to visit Etosha is its healthy population of black rhinoceros. This archaic beast is endangered and the waterholes are probably among the best places in the world to see this precious animal.

Other rare and endangered species include the black-faced impala, which can be seen around Dolomite Camp and the fleet footed cheetah. The plains are covered by large herds of springbok and zebra. The backdrop of the vast Etosha Pan makes game viewing in Etosha a unique experience.

The large mammals in Etosha National Park include lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, cheetah, hyena, mountain and plains zebra, springbok, kudu, gemsbok and eland. Among the smaller species you will find jackal, bat-eared fox, warthog, honey badger and ground squirrel. The park is home to 114 species of mammals.

The below Map is for the the route to Etosha National Park.

The below Map it shows the routes to different places inside the Etosha National Park.

Western part is Open

The western part of the park used to be exclusively for tour operators with special permits. It is now open to visitors who book a night at Dolomite camp (named after the waterhole at the foot of the Koppie Dolomietpunt). The camp is located on a ‘koppie’ in the western part of the reserve. The area and vegetation is very different to the south- eastern and eastern part of the park. One can find the Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra

In this area and with a more undulating landscape, it makes for a very different wildlife experience. White dust and clay which makes up the Etosha Pan turns to a reddish brown soil during this time which may lead you to believe you have entered an entirely new park when you visit.

The route from Okaukuejo to Dolomite is a roughly 175km’s with 15 waterholes evenly spaced out on route. These waterholes have been open for several years now and have recently been revamped, ensuring that the wildlife becomes more prolific in these areas. You can also access Dolomite from the Galton Gate which is located in the western border of park. You will need to have a reservation at Dolomite to visit this area or get access through the Galton Gate.