Days 7 & 8 - Etosha

I am sat overlooking the Okavango River on the deck of our tree house (lovely!) in the North of Namibia’s Caprivi strip reflecting on the previous two days of safari in Etosha National Park.  So I have put the binoculars down to take a break from hippo and croc-watching to write a short blog.

Etosha Park is a vast protected area around a salt pan where amongst many other animals the “big 5”can be found. The summer rainy season is not the best time for safari so we tried to keep our expectations realistic, but still we were excited.  Our first 4 hour stint explored the first section of the park and despite it being during the heat of the day we still saw ostrich, buck, giraffe and birds a plenty.

We stayed at a camp in the centre and from here we booked a 3 hour night safari with an expert guide. As we sat to dinner the rain clouds came and just as we set off at 8pm the rain began. We were dished out some fetching ponchos to protect us from the wet and set off.  Using a red light to shine into the bush the guide spotted owls, bat eared foxes, aard wolves, wild African cats, jackals and plenty more of the smaller variety of animals which rarely get a look-in.  No big animals but we went to bed content having enjoyed a unique experience.

Matt and I rose early for a pre-breakfast stint in the park.  Matt is certainly becoming a skilled tracker as he can even be negotiating Jeepy through rough terrain whilst pointing a chameleon which was practically on my head. I was not so observant, only spotting animals that actually came out onto the road! Our morning drive was not a disappointment as after a couple of hours we rounded a bend and saw 5 lionesses drinking from a puddle in front of us.  They then backed off the road and collapsed in the grass metres away. Brilliant!

Breakfast was devoured and a final 4 hour drive took us out of the Eastern gate and onto our night stay before heading up to the Caprivi strip by the Angolan border.