Africa Revisited. Self Drive Safari. Etosha National Park

With a great sense of anticipation we set off after viewing the Hoba Meteorite on the road to Etosha National Park. Etosha is unique in Africa and is a salt pan so large it can be seen from space. "Etosha" means place of dry water and so it was dry and very dusty! We were heading to the south of Etosha  for the Von Lindequist Gate and our first campsite was the old German fort of Namutoni. Namoutoni was originally established as a control post during the mad cow epidemic of 1897 in Namibia and declared a national monument in 1950. It was a very picturesque place but we got the impression it was a bit run down. The campsite was dry, dusty but adequate. Toilet facilities OK but busy. We were pleased we had a booking.

The old fort. A bit run down now there were a few craft shops but not much else.

Our dash cam of our drive through Etosha. 14 minutes.

A long day but we had arrived at Etosha. We cooked our own food as we were not much impressed by the restaurant which was very busy with tour parties. 

We stayed in Etosha for two nights staying at two different campsites, Namoutoni & Halaili. Really not long enough and we think when we go back a minimum of four nights would be better. The infra structure is not as good as The Kruger and the roads are drier and mainly gravel. However, the game spotting opportunities are fabulous. We saw huge herds of various cattle, elephants, giraffes and the highlight of the trip a cheetah and her cubs. The waterholes are well set up for watching wildlife and get very busy with animals. The campsites also have lit waterholes with good viewing areas. 

Here is a selection of some of our game spotting activities.

Of course we cannot forget the beautiful cheetah who was giving her cubs lessons in how to catch a wilderbeest. We watched for ages as the wilderbeests ganged up on the cheetahs who eventually left them alone. 

We were not quite near enough to get pictures of the whole story but it was fascinating to watch. Finally on our way out of the park we spotted this jackal.

After two days we were sad to be leaving Etosha and knew we would have to go back!  We made our way to our next stop Etosha Safari Camp. A fabulous well run site just outside the park. A lovely swimming pool for lounging in and a great restaurant and bar.

The toilet facilities here were like those in a five star hotel and is is a site we will come back to. The final icing on the cake was the fact that as we slept giraffe and zebra tiptoed around the campsite. I woke up when I heard footsteps to see a giraffe eating the leaves from the tree above our tent. Sorry my camera was locked in the car! Shame we only had a one night stop here, tomorrow we were off to the desert.