Namibia Road Trip – Days #3 – 4: Etosha National Park
Etosha’s primary geographical feature is the vast Etosha Pan lake bed and the white sand desert that surrounds it. Despite its vast size (over 150 miles across), it is possible to see a lot of the park in a day. In this apparently lifeless desert, animals never wander aimlessly, but deliberately from one watering hole to the next. If you stake out a watering hole, you’re practically guaranteed incredible sites and photographic opportunities. Clear blue skies, and the heat and mirages rippling off of the flat white sands made for some dramatic shots as well. Etosha delivers, dammit.
Each rest camp in Etosha was situated next to a watering hole. This meant we never had to go out on an evening wildlife safari; when the sun went down, the wildlife came to us. The biggest rest camps at Etosha are actually former German military watering posts (“Wasserstellen”), as once the Schutztruppen got beyond the embryonic rail system, they had to continue on horseback from one water post to the next. Today, the watering holes have been given back to the wildlife, and the camps re-developed around them. The watering holes are floodlit, and benches are provided for guest. The animals are indeed separated from the rest camps by Jurassic Park-style barricades, but we were close. Damn close. We had ringside seats every evening. (I did hear one unconfirmed story about a guy getting eaten by lions after falling asleep on the benches. I could see how it was possible, as a nimble lion could scale the stakes right up, but – again – this story is not confirmed.)
We sat there quietly with other guests, nursing a coffee or beer, and waited. The lighting is good enough that you don’t miss a thing (although the conditions were still not great for cameras or video). In no particular order, we saw zebras, lions, black rhinos, jackals, giraffes, springbok, and a lone hyena (although we heard more in the distance). The lions we saw were actually a mating pair, and they coupled briefly and violently for our edification before disappearing into the darkness.
The black rhinos kept us on the edge of our seats. Blind as bats, and more aggro than a group of drunken Italian football fans, the rhinos charged the lions and each other. As two rhinos were facing off, one of them bellowed with frustration. Its howl sounded somehow inorganic, like a cruise ship, a steam locomotive whistle, and five Mack trucks all sounding off at once; it made my hair stand on end. Following that primordial clarion call, any guests not already at the watering hole already scrambled from their camp sites to the barricade to see what was happening.
In our 40-odd hours in Etosha (one day and two nights), we saw more animals than in four full days in and around Kruger Park. Granted, the flora and consequently, the fauna of the two parks are not identical (e.g., there are no Water Buffalo, Hippos, or crocs in Etosha because it’s so dry), so the two parks are probably not worth comparing. If I had to choose, I suppose I’d have to go with Kruger Park, as it truly is the Mother of All Safari Parks, with a wider variety of animals and terrain.
Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear…
That being said, I loved the desolation and intimacy of Etosha. We rarely saw another vehicle except at the most popular watering holes (and even then only one or two other vehicles, max). I never got tired of seeing the same species again; even if it was my 100th Burchell’s Zebra of the day, I was still enraptured.
I think part of my enthrallment was due to the fact that we were seeing things that no one else would ever see. Sure, other visitors would see flavors of what we saw, but never in the exact same thing. The animals would never interact with them they way they interacted with us. It was a kind of intimacy, I suppose, and that feeling will stay with me forever.
