Etosha National Park

In Etosha, we saw an amazing variety of animals. in 2 days and 2 night, we saw elephants, rhinos, giraffes, hyenas, jackals, lions, and several large bird species. we spent one night at a watering hole, and another night on a game drive, where we saw more smaller animals, like 2 fox species, porcupine, owls, and were even lucky enough to spot some hyenas hunting a young hartebeest, which got away.

And just to prove that Etosha has something amazing going on everywhere, our night game drive did come at the expense of a chance at seeing a leopard which came to the the watering hole while we were gone.

When the park was first mapped out it covered over 100 sq km. Now at around 23sq km, it is still a massive park and a wealth of animals can be found there. When people do a safari they expected to see the big five (buffalo, rhino, elephant, lion and leopard) and Etosha doesn’t disappoint.

One of the park’s greatest selling points is the watering holes that surround the camps (there are three main camps – Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni Gate). It’s like being in a theatre and you sit in the dress circle as the animals enter stage right, perform their lines, drink and then exit the stage as the audience applauds and this happens night and day.

We spent a cosy late night, huddled together, sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows as the animals performed their evening performance – a lion, hyena, giraffes, elephants, one after the other. It was pure bliss.