Etosha: January 30-31

The whole trip we had been hearing about Etosha and the immense number of animals that live there, but it wasn’t until we arrived and began our game drives that I realized how true this really is. Until we got to Etosha we would see zebras far in the distance and would stop the bus, all pile on top of each other at the windows to try and use the big zoom on our cameras, and get so excited because we spotted this beautiful animal in the wild. Once we got to Etosha however, we wouldn’t have considered stopping for zebras that far away because we knew right around the next bend in the road they might be 15 feet off the road. I stayed in constant awe of the fact that we were seeing these animals in their natural habitat. They were untouched by humans and were completely living off of the land. Even if you drive all of the possible roads in Etosha you still only cover 7% of the total land. This means that the number of animals we saw is just a small portion of what actually exists.

I never understood the importance of a water hole until this trip. I always knew animals needed to get water and that some like the rhino needed to be even closer to it, but I didn’t realize how scarce it is. Water holes are like a restaurant in the center of a town where you go to see all of your friends (and enemies). Three water holes were a big hit for us. The first had about 12 elephants, 5 of which were babies, a bunch of zebra and some giraffe. It is amazing how these animals live in harmony, but if we had introduced a lion into the scene everything would have changed. Next we saw a bunch of giraffes down by the water and it is so funny to see them drink. They look like they’re about to topple over because they have to spread their legs out so much to reach their long necks down. Again there were zebra and some springboks too!

The last water hole where we saw a lot of activity was a 2 minute walk from where our tents were set up. Because it was so close we were able to see the action going on there after the sun went down and before the sun came up. Our first night in Etosha we saw our first and only lions. We could hear them for probably two hours before they actually showed up at the water hole. Of course while they were there no other animals were around. Three male lions had come to drink. In the same night we saw zebras and rhinos at the water hole. The following night we saw a whole bunch of giraffes.

During our game drives and at the water holes we were lucky enough to see: the blue wildebeest, springbok, oryx, elephant, giraffe, kudu, kori bustard, ostrich, zebra, African stork, black-faced impala, rhino, warthog, lion, steenbok, flamingo, guinea fowl, flapped neck chameleon, secretary bird, boomslang or black mamba, lappet faced vulture and many more animals!