Etosha National Park in northern Namibia was established by the Namibian Government in 1907 and is now 24,000 square km after having been reduced in size over time with the demand for land. More than 15% of the country has been set aside as parkland by the government. Here at Etosha, there are at least 2 camp sites, which have significant fences around them, as well as toilet areas that are all fenced in. Aside from those designated areas and one at the overlook of the Salt Pan, no one is allowed to get out of their vehicles. As our driver said, I only want to see your cameras out of the windows, no body parts. It’s easy to forget that these are wild animals and there are dangers here.
At dinner last night, four of the group decided then didn’t want to do an all day game drive in our truck and so they booked a shorter one with the National Park Service for today. The rest of the 8 of us loved that we each had a double seat, and therefor a window seat to ourselves. We started off at 6:30 and not a peep of complaint as we were all keen to experience today, and once the gate opened at 6:45 we were off and running.
When we arrived at the first waterhole where we’d seen so many animals the day before, there was not a living thing to be seen. Not even a bird. We wondered if we were going to have an unlucky day! The pressure was on our guides as one group that we encountered at dinner the night before had seen 5 lions on their game day. Our guides know the park well, and know the habitat of each of the target animals and each time we passed a vehicle there was a short conversation about what the other had seen and where. We got a lead that there were 3 lions spotted within the last hour at a certain water hole, not too far away and so off we were. Alas, no evidence of them when we arrived.
Innocent told us to watch the animals behaviour because it can tell us much about what might be nearby. When we arrived at one water hole we noticed there were lots of zebra and springbok nearby but not at the water hole. And they were all spread out standing looking in the same direction. Sure enough, minutes later the zebras all ran into a bunch all facing the same way with the springboks behind them doing the same thing. Innocent said it was a defensive position as if to tell any predictors that they had been seen and and they couldn’t be surprised by an attack. Minutes later, 2 lionesses with a cub poked their heads above the horizon and wandered nearby. We watched in anticipation. The lions didn’t spend much time there, as they knew they had been spotted and wouldn’t have success hunting.
We drove from water hole to water hole, through areas where smaller cats like leopards are known to rest. Every once in a while, 4 or 6 giraffe heads would stick out of the tree line and we’d stop to watch them eat or cross the road. Zebras were everywhere, and we didn’t even stop to take pics after a while.
We came across a “breeding group” of mothers and their baby elephants eating right beside the road and were able to watch them for a while. Oh, and maybe take a few photos. We came across another couple of lions, one of which was trotting along just 10 feet from the side of the road while the other laid in the shade.
We had worked our way to toward the salt pan at one side of the park, and so we stopped at an overlook where we were able to get out to stretch our legs and take a look at absolutely nothing, as far as the eye could see. Flat, white and devoid of any sign of life. It is 120 km by 60 km in size.
We made our way to the second of the 2 camps and had a buffet lunch in the shade at a restaurant in the camp. After lunch while we waited for Innocent to conduct some business we headed to this camp’s water hole in the hope that it would produce the same results as the previous day. We had a bit of a walk, and then came upon a seating area overlooking the water hole with quite a few people sitting perfectly still, and quiet, looking at absolutely nothing. There was nothing at the water hole but they were waiting in silence just in case something showed up. We left to join our group and were off to wander the park in our truck, heading slowly back to leave the park.
As we neared Anderson Gate Innocent, who was driving at the time, asked Sandile to check out what he thought might be a rhino in the very far distance with the binoculars. I couldn’t see what he was looking at with my naked eye but I took a picture with my zoom lens and then looked at the picture blown up. There it was. How on earth Innocent could have seen it is beyond me. And then even closer to the gate still was another white rhino quite near the road but with it’s back to us. At first I thought it was a huge boulder, but then it moved and I realized it was indeed a rhino.
To that’s 3 of the available Big 4 in Etosha. Figures crossed we’ll see the leopard and water buffalo elsewhere in our travels. It was an amazing thing to be able to see these animals so close up and in their natural environment.
Lois' Adventures 