Etosha National Park

Magical - so many animals!

We did a 4-day self-driving safari in a VW Polo rental car in Etosha and loved it. So many animals!! We felt so far away from our usual European life, in such a different, magical world.

The lodges are nice and give you quite some space inside and outside, the food there is pretty good, and the waterholes directly at the camps are amazing, especially at Halali and Okaukuejo. So many animals at almost all times of day at Okaukuejo and Klein-Namutoni (1 km from the camp), and great lion and rhino action at Halali's Moringa water hole at sunset. Most roads in Etosha are easy to navigate even in a Polo.

Very much worth the 5 h drive north from Windhoek on excellent roads!

If you like driving through beautiful scenery and spotting wildlife, Ethosa is the place to be!

We spend a couple of beautiful days at Ethosa national park. Starting near namutoni, we first discovered the very eastern part of the park, spotting a great variety of colorful birding and wildlife at fisher's pan. On our second day we drove through the park to okaukuejo, taking as many loops as possible and exploring different areas of the park. We were especially fascinated by the great variety of landscapes and the animals which inhabit it. Seeing elefants, giraffes, zebras and other animals so closely is just amazing and in my opinion you will never get sick of it....unfortunately we didn't spot any cats, it might be different if you don't choose to do a self drive but book a safari because many guides know special areas in which lions, leopards and cheetahs live.
Nevertheless we had a great time. A personal highlight was the water whole at okaukuejo, where you can just sit and watch wild animals in their natural habitat - an amazing opportunity for unique moments. I'd recommend Ethosa to anyone visiting Namibia.

My first safari experience

I really enjoyed my trip to Etosha National Park in August last year. We stayed at Mokuti Etosha Lodge which was such a nice place to come back to, relax and enjoy great food after the excitement of a day spent in the park. The breakfast was particularly good, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful (a very noticable difference to some other experiences I've had with the Namibian 'service' culture... I guess it's because there are mostly tourists at the lodge that they've received more/better training?) and the beds were very comfortable. The lodge is located right next to one of the entrances and not far from Namutoni. On our way there we spotted the first animals. We later saw (among others) lots of giraffes, gnus, elephants, zebras (with foals, so cute), and what we believed to be the ears of a couple of lions taking a nap in the bushes.
As it was only mid-August i.e. spring was just beginning, the temperatures were still a bit unsteady. For the first half of our first day, I was wearing jeans and a scarf as well as a thick woollen jumper on top of my (long-sleeved) blouse and still felt cold. However, in the afternoon it became so hot that I took everything off again and basically ended up wearing just my vest as a top. It may have been just me though, as everyone else seemed just fine with the temperatures, but I would definitely recommend wearing/bringing some extra layers of clothing that you can take off or put on when necessary. Other than that I think normal (non-flashy) clothes work just fine as you're not allowed to leave your vehicle anyway.

Highly recommended-it doesn't get better than this!

An African Safari Trip had always been high on my bucket list & finally, this Feb. 2015, it became a reality! The trip really started in Cape Town South Africa where a group of us travelled many miles by jeep,saw amazing scenery and wildlife but, it was nothing in comparison to the wildlife we encountered in Namibia's Etosha Park.
When we entered the Park through the Anderson's Gate and immediately saw our first elephant leisurely enjoying a mud bath along with an audience of zebras and giraffes, I knew I was in for a real treat. It was a great welcome to my first Game Park! From then on animal sightings were numerous. From impalas to springboks, to steenboks, warthogs, a variety of foxes, to my favourite gemsboks (oryx) there was never a dull moment.The lonely,solitary wildebeest trekking through the dry scrub towards our jeep,the hyena glaring at us, the black rhino in the distance, really got the adrenaline going. The kudus peeking out of the bush, the juvenile steenbok jumping in front of the vehicle, the vervet monkeys racing across the road were all pleasant surprises. The fact that the animals were in smaller group settings during that time of year was to my advantage when it came to photography.The giraffes in their calm & nonchalant ways were most photogenic and I never tired of photographing the stunning zebras.
The landscape had a surreal feeling to it, interspersed with sparse vegetation, low shrubs and vast salt pans.The low concentration of human activity brought peacefulness to the area and was much appreciated. The few waterholes along the countless roads attracted numerous species of animals and provided us with an excellent vantage point from which to view and photograph game.
The bird life was also prolific.The European Bee-Eater, the Lilac Breasted and European Roller, and the various Weavers were common throughout the park. We also spotted Ostriches, Kori Bustards, Storks, Secretary Birds, various Hornbills, numerous prey birds, and flamingoes amongst many other water fowl.
Our first night was spent at the Halali Camp. We were treated to beautiful spacious accommodations & excellent meals. The Namutoni Camp was our second night's destination. It was equally as lovely a spot, with attractive, clean rooms and once again exceptional food. Staff was always pleasant and friendly.
No complaints really, other than next time around, I would probably omit the night drive as it was not conducive to any decent photography even though it was interesting enough and we got to see a herd of rhinos speeding along the side of us in the bush and others drinking at a water hole.I would definitely extend my stay in the park for a few more days.
Much kudos to two wonderful, professional and most knowledgeable guides who went out of their way to look after our needs and made this adventure so successful! To be in their presence was truly a blessing!
Our last day ended magically ( and of course too quickly as one never wants a beautiful dream to end!) with a glowing sunset and dark thunder clouds looming overhead, announcing a storm on it's way. Last but not least we witness a farewell sighting of two silhouetted giraffes in the far distance momentarily necking and then galloping off like lovers into the coming storm! Luckily, the lack of rain had definitely played in our favour while in the park,but now it would be welcomed!
I must say that never in my wildest dreams did I expect such a rewarding safari expedition. Etosha Park will be embedded into my memory forever!

5 day Etosha safari

We had an amazing time in Etosha. We saw elephants and rhinos every day and Lions every day but one. The great thing about Etosha in the dry season, is that the animals all congregate near the water holes so we didn't have to ride around looking for animals, we just sat at the water holes and the animals came to us - sometimes in huge numbers. We stayed inside the park one night and enjoyed the lighted watering hole at the lodge. We also stayed in a high-end lodge on the eastern side of the park where the food and service rivaled that of 4 star hotels in big European cities. Our Guide from nature Travel Namibia took amazing care of us and was a wonderful addition to our group. If you can, I highly recommend visiting Etosha National Park.

The animals almost came to us

We went with Wild dog safaries, our guide was Gabriel, asnd he knew his stuff.
This was our second visit we stayed at Dolomite camp recently opened part of the park only accesable to those staying at Dolomite camp and so very quiet.
good points the camp consists of a number of seperate villas set on a dolomite hill ridge totaly open to game (you get driven back to your room at night)just sitting on the balcony we saw all sorts of animals go and coming from the water hole. The accomodation was fine clean and spacious, the food was great
As Namibia is such a dry country visits to the local water holes allow you to get up close and personal to all the usual African game we saw all the "big five" excluding hippos (there are none in this part of Namibia). Our guide seemed to know just which water hole to visit enabling us to see plenty of game all day long . .
This was our second safari in Namibia the first time we stayed on the opposite side of Entosha which was equally as good.
Namibia is a lovely country , dry, low humidity, clean and the locals arew very friendly The whole country is very scenic and the roads are quiet and easy to drive, It is a country of huge variety from the sceleton coast to the Worlds largest sand dunes , I can 100% recommend it

Etosha is a beautiful wild space where you can quickly get really close to nature.

Everyone in our group loved Etosha. The scenery is stunning particularly out round the pan and the facilities were excellent to return home to. Even though it was the wet season we saw lots of game and the highlight was seeing - and videoing - a cheetah kill on the edge of the pan, where a mother winged a springbok so that her cub could make his kill.

We experienced our sole disappointment at Etosha Resort. Very substandard and unfriendly in general. Bad accommodation and overpriced. We left a day earlier than booked.

Awesome

A lot of animals all around the park. Self driving safari. Waterholes.