Etosha National Park

This is one of the greatest and largest national parks in Africa.

Always a pleasure to visit

Etosha National Park is one of Southern Africa’s best wildlife reserves. As with many such parks, what you see depends on patience and luck. However, in Etosha you will always see something interesting regardless of the season. There are many accessible waterholes where animals congregate in the dry winter season, although there is still plenty to see at other times of the year. We have visited Etosha twice, in late April/early May, and during our visit this year (2016) we were rewarded with the sight of eight elephants who walked right past us and a few minutes later we saw three cheetahs out in the open. All of this was a short drive from Namutoni Camp. The other good point about Etosha is that it is very large so it doesn’t feel crowded. The only downside, and it’s not a major issue, is that the camps inside the park are a bit tired and need an injection of money and better management. Despite that it is still a highly recommended place to visit.

there are many many animals and always unpredictable

Etosha National Park is fantastic - we spent 13 hours driving ourselves through the park from sunrise to sundown, saw all kinds of amazing animals, at a total price of roughly $10 US.

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!

Amazing wildlife, great lodges and beautiful landscape

We had a self drive from Windhoek and our main reason for visiting was the prolific wildlife. Our first stop was an overnight stay in 'Olive Grove'. A really small boutique hotel, with lovely attention to detail and great food. Our next stop was Hoodia Desert Lodge in Sesriem to visit the world famous dunes. The lodge was beautiful and each chalet has air-con - a blessing in the scorching heat. The main lodge area was beautifully furnished and the manager and staff were extremely helpful and friendly. The food was also very good. We took an early morning trip to the dunes and our guide spotted and showed us stuff we never would've noticed. The walk to the top of Big Mama dune was hard work (for me), especially in 100 + degree heat. The highlight of this trip for me was seeing Dead Vlei - with black burnt trees against an orange background and a cloudless blue sky. This was a photographers dream. We then drove to Erindi private reserve and stayed in Traders Lodge. This is quite a large busy lodge, but the views from the lounge overlooking the waterhole was amazing. We were greeted on arrival by Wild dogs in camp. The evening viewing from camp was non stop from elephants, hippos, zebra, giraffes, wildebeest and Eland, all visiting the waterhole over the course of the evening. Our room overlooked the small waterhole at the rear of the lodge and lions and rhino came in the dead of night (caught with a remote camera). The game drives although good, are in my opinion a bit too organised. We were also unfortunate to have a vehicle that broke down twice! Unfortunately, they hadn't fixed the problem from the previous drive, and so we broke down again the next day. It was disappointing as this meant we missed most of our sundowner, as we were waiting for another vehicle to come and pick us up. The animals are tracked by GPS, and so you are nearly guaranteed of seeing what you want, it felt more like a safari park than an african safari. From here we went on to Etosha for 6 nights. Our first stop was Okaukeujo where we had booked a premier waterside chalet (definitely worth the extra), as you are right next to the waterhole and can sit out all night watching the game come and go. We had an amazing experience with elephants staying from early evening to sunset and beyond, just during themselves and bathing and playing. The trumpeting was an experience never to be forgotten. The chalet was clean and modern. The restaurant is average but the food could be better - however, you go to Okaukeujo for wildlife not a gourmet meal. Our second stop was Onguma Reserve, just out side Etosha. A nice camp which felt like an oasis compared to the dry dusty plains of Etosha. We had one evening game drive in the Onguma reserve which was a little quiet compared to Etosha. The guides are excellent and vehicles comfortable. The waterhole within the reserve was quiet when we visited. We saw a few giraffe and some waterbuck. Our next stay was in Anderssons Camp, again just outside the park. A nice old camp with a vibrant evening waterhole, where Rhino seem to visit every night - Their camp side is great, you are literally within feet of the many animals that go to drink there. We had one game drive within Onguma and saw the resident lions and rhino. We opted to self drive in Etosha and the waterholes are vibrant and teeming with animals. This was our second visit to Etosha and we were concerned we would be disappointed after having a great safari previously - but we were not disappointed and will visit again.

Dusty landscape teeming with wildlife

I spent three full days in Etosha National Park in September 2015. I spent the first night in the campsite at the Okaukuejo waterhole, and the following two nights at a hotel just outside of the park, near the southern Anderson Gate. I would highly recommend the campsite over a hotel, as you don't need to spend time driving to/from the gate at sunrise and sunset, and the floodlit waterhole offers the opportunity to watch the animals at night. The weather in September was perfect - clear skies and quite warm, but not too hot.

I spent several hours each morning and afternoon driving through the park, with a 4x4 rented in Windhoek. The roads are gravel, but are wide and most are well-maintained. I saw five rhinos, seven lions, as well as elephant, zebra, giraffe, springbok, gemsbok, kudu, hartebeest, steenbok, black-faced impala, and several species of birds. I was able to get very close to many of the animals and the size of the park, even though it's fenced, meant that there were large areas to explore and it felt like you could really see the animals in their natural habitat.

Among the park's we visited, Etosha NP was by far the best. A lot of animals, long drives and many options of waterholes, many spots of the Etosha white goast Elephants and lion cubs.

An experience everyone should do!

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.

Absolutely great landscape and wildlife

We saw a lot of different game, such as herds of Zebras, Springboks, Orys and lots of Elephants, Giraffes, Hyenas, Lion, Cheetahs and much more. The scenery was amazing, changing a lot from green to brown and green again. The pan is impressive too. We stayed at the Ongave Tented Camp just outside the park.