Etosha National Park

Don't Miss Staying Up at the Waterholes

Visited Namibia and Etosha after spending a week in Kenya. While not as game rich or scenic as the parks in Kenya, Etosha certainly has a character in its own. Etosha is unique because of its sprawling dry landscape and its waterholes that attract huge of wildlife (including what I swear are the biggest elephants I’ve ever seen in my life.) Even better is if you stay in the park you can stay up all night at the waterhole in your campsite watching animals. The highlight was seeing three species high on my list but often rare to see: black rhinoceros, honey badger and cheetah. Species we saw:

African Elephant
Black Rhinoceros
White Rhinoceros
Cheetah
Angolan Giraffe
Plains Zebra
Blue Wildebeest
Springbok
Gemsbok
Greater Kudu
Impala
Red Hartebeest
Honey Badger
Black-Backed Jackal
Banded Mongoose
Steenbok
Bat (unsure of species)
Yellow-Billed Hornbill
Ostrich
Pied Crow
White-Backed Mousebird
Guinea Fowl
Egyptian Goose

I liked seeing the variety of animals. I was amazed at how close we were to the animals. The water holes provide an excellent opportunity to see many animals up close - they come to you rather than you to them.

Etosha rates highly with me and was impressed with the rhino sightings. Only missed the leopard. Cannot put words to the feeling you get by "just being there"