Visiting Etosha National Park

Etosha National Park was once much larger than it is today, but even after its boundaries were reduced, it remains one of Namibia’s greatest wildlife destinations. The scenery itself isn’t always dramatic. Much of the park is dry grassland, scattered trees, open plains, and waterholes surrounding the enormous Etosha Pan. What makes Etosha special isn’t really the landscape, though. It’s the sheer amount of wildlife. At the time of my visit, this was easily the best wildlife experience I’d had anywhere in Africa.

The open terrain made animals much easier to see than in dense forest, while the park’s waterholes concentrated wildlife into places where I could simply stop, wait, and watch. Sometimes there was no need to search very hard at all. Eventually something would appear.

Early Morning Wildlife

I started exploring Etosha early in the morning, when the temperature was still relatively cool and wildlife was active. One of my first encounters was this jackal eating what looked like the remains of an impala leg. Whatever had killed the animal was long gone, but the jackal was more than happy to finish what was left.

Soon afterward I came across a warthog. Etosha had such a variety of mammals that even animals I’d already seen elsewhere in Africa kept appearing throughout the day, often with very little effort on my part.

Grazers of Etosha

Gemsbok were among the animals I most strongly associated with Namibia. Their long, straight horns and black-and-white facial markings make them instantly recognizable, while their ability to survive in extremely dry environments makes them perfectly suited to landscapes like Etosha.

Blue wildebeest were another regular sight. I would eventually see them in several parts of southern and eastern Africa, but at this point in my travels I was still excited every time one appeared.

Springbok added another antelope species to the mix. Part of what I liked about Etosha was how often several completely different animals could appear in the same stretch of open terrain.

Elephants and Smaller Antelope

Etosha is also home to many of Africa’s most famous animals, including elephants, lions, rhinos, zebras, and giraffes. Seeing an elephant this close really emphasized its size. Until I took this photograph, I don’t think I’d ever really noticed just how long an elephant’s trunk could look when hanging almost all the way to the ground.

At the opposite end of the scale was this dik-dik. After photographing elephants, giraffes, and other large mammals, seeing such a tiny antelope moving through the same ecosystem felt almost strange. It looked fragile compared with nearly everything around it, but small size, camouflage, and speed clearly have their advantages.

A Lion Hidden in the Grass

I did eventually spot a lion in Etosha, although photographing it was nearly impossible. It was lying beneath a tree and hidden so well by the vegetation that I probably would have missed it completely if the surrounding animals hadn’t given it away. Zebras and giraffes kept staring toward exactly the same patch of grass, obviously aware of the predator even while it seemed far more interested in sleeping than hunting.

Eventually the lion shifted position, and that was enough. The zebras immediately took off running. Watching the prey animals monitor the predator was almost more interesting than watching the lion itself because they clearly understood exactly what was happening long before I did.

Giraffes

I saw plenty of giraffes throughout the park. Their height gives them an obvious advantage when scanning the landscape, and full-grown giraffes are powerful enough that even large predators have to be careful around them.

Drinking is a very different story. To reach the water, a giraffe has to spread its front legs and lower its long neck almost to the ground, placing itself in a much more awkward position. Watching one drink made it obvious why waterholes can be dangerous even though every animal eventually has to visit them.

Waiting at the Waterholes

When looking for wildlife in Etosha, the waterholes were easily the best places to wait. During hot weather, animals eventually have to come in for a drink, and predators know that just as well as travelers do. At one waterhole I watched several gemsbok gather together while other animals waited nearby.

Zebras were another frequent visitor. I remember thinking the zebra on the left looked unusually well fed compared with the others, although I had no idea whether it actually was or whether I had simply caught it at an unflattering angle.

Nearby, a young kudu remained alert while an adult drank. Moments like this made me notice how little time wild animals seem to spend completely relaxed. Even something as basic as getting a drink requires constantly paying attention to everything around them.

Birdlife in Etosha

Before visiting, I hadn’t expected Etosha to be especially memorable for birds. I was completely wrong. I probably photographed more interesting bird species here than almost anywhere else I had traveled at the time. I was exploring the park in my own vehicle, which meant I could stop whenever I wanted and wait as long as I wanted. The sparse vegetation often made birdwatching easier too, because there simply weren’t as many places for them to disappear.

This southern yellow-billed hornbill looked almost prehistoric to me. Its oversized curved bill made it one of the most distinctive birds I photographed anywhere in the park.

The colorful roller was easily one of my favorites. After spending so much time looking at mammals colored in browns, grays, and tans that helped them disappear into the landscape, the bright blues and purples of birds like this stood out immediately.

The birdlife ranged from tiny colorful species like the purple waxbill to considerably larger birds of prey. Sometimes the smaller birds were actually harder to photograph because they seemed determined to disappear into the vegetation the second I stopped the vehicle.

The pale chanting goshawk represented the other end of the spectrum. Birds of prey like this hunt a wide variety of animals, including insects, reptiles, small birds, and mammals.

More Birds Than I Expected

Not every bird I photographed spent its time in trees. Several species stayed close to the ground, running through the grass or crossing the road ahead of me. I wasn’t always able to identify exactly what I had photographed afterward, but that was part of the fun of going through the pictures once the trip was over.

The Smaller Things

With so many elephants, zebras, giraffes, and antelope around, it would have been easy to ignore the smaller animals. I still stopped for lizards, insects, and anything else that caught my attention. They weren’t the reason I had come to Etosha, but they were still part of the ecosystem I had traveled so far to see.

My Time in Etosha

Etosha ended up being one of the highlights of my trip through Namibia. It wasn’t because of one spectacular landscape or even one particular animal. It was the constant variety. A jackal eating leftovers in the morning could be followed by elephants, gemsbok, zebras, kudu, giraffes, wildebeest, springbok, a hidden lion, and then a completely different collection of birds before the day was over.

At the time, I’d never experienced another place in Africa where seeing wildlife felt this easy. I could drive slowly through the open landscape, stop at a waterhole, and simply wait to see what appeared. For anyone traveling through Namibia primarily to see animals, Etosha was the place that impressed me most.