Etosha

Just a few moments inside the gates and we had our first game spot. It was only zebra and springbok, but despite them being very common here, they are still beautiful animals and quite exciting when you have not seen them in the wild before which Rich and Mum had not. Anyway, we were keen to find more interesting animals, so based on a report of a lion kill in the logbook, we headed straight out on our first game drive, up north to the Okondeka waterhole. Unfortunately other than a few jackals and vultures feasting on a dead zebra, there was not much going on, and as you have to get to your rest camp before sunset, we started the drive back. Just as we were beginning to think there was nothing to be see except zebra and springbok, a giraffe appeared on the horizon, and completed unfazed by our presence crossed the road behind our car and headed off into the sunset.














Our base for our two night stay at Etosha was the Okaukuejo Rest Camp, not far from the Andersson Gate. We had splashed out on a two bedroom family chalet which after camping was a luxurious treat, especially given the four poster beds and ornately folded bath towels. One of the advantages of staying here is that it has one of the best waterholes in the park, which you can sit by at any time of day or night as it is floodlit. Outside of the rest camps you are not allowed to get out of your car (and after seeing a couple of lions you have not desire to), so it is nice to have easy access to somewhere you can sit outside and watch at leisure. We therefore used this as an opportunity to sip our G&Ts watching the zebra drink form the waterhole as the sun set.















After dinner at the restaurant (I decided I needed a night off from cooking over an open fire) we headed back the waterhole and were greeted by a crowd of people madly snapping and flashing away. Finally we worked out that the cause of the excitement was a dark grey mass by the waterhole which was on closer inspection was a black rhino. This was a great end to the day, although it's not clear the rhino enjoyed to paparazzi treatment.

The next morning we headed off soon after dawn to see what we could find. Top of my list were lions, and miraculously about twenty minutes in we turned a corner to find a lioness with 3 cubs walking down the middle of the road towards us. They crept back in to the grass, and quickly disappeared, only to reappear behind the car - they seemed to be using the road as a handy route through a very thick patch of thorny bushes. Rich turned the car around, and we followed them for sometime at a respectful distance and they didn't seem at all bothered by us – awesome.














From after breakfast to lunch we didn't have so much luck, perhaps this was because I was driving. I blame mum and Rich who were meant to be acting as spotters. No sooner did Rich take over and we found 7 giraffe which crossed the road directly in front of us followed swiftly by a black rhino and a herd of wildebeest.














In the evening I had signed us up for the three hour night safari drive. As you are not allowed to drive yourself in the park at night this the only way to get out and about. We were prepared for it being chilly in our open top vehicle so took fleeces, but this was not enough and we spent the entire three hours close to hypothermia. Things stared well with male and female lion pretty close to the road, but then after two hours with nothing but owls we were starting to feel a little disheartened (this showing you owls is a standard trick when the guide can't find more interesting animal, I've seen it before). We did find two black rhino, but these were really too far away to be anything more than black shadows.

Having been to Etosha before myself, I would recommend trying to go nearer the end of the dry season (October). At the moment it is just the start of the dry (and apparently there was more rain than usual this wet season). This means that the animals don't need to come to the waterholes as much, so are more dispersed throughout the park. When I was here last time there were literally hundreds of animals at the Okaukuejo waterhole, and I saw at least 30 elephants, which this time were unfortunately very elusive. Overall, however, our experience at Etosha was great. It really is quite exciting driving yourself around and not knowing what is going to be around the next corner.