Africa 2001

Etosha National Park

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Etosha National Park

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Shauna Kelly
Melbourne, Australia
July 2001

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Etosha National Park is the most extraordinary place I've ever been. It is in Northern Namibia, about 6 hours' drive north of the capital, Windhoek.

Etosha National Park is a semi-arid area of 23,000 square kilometres (that's more than half the size of Switzerland, or about a third the size of Tasmania!). Tourists are allowed in only a small portion of the park, but that was more than enough to keep me occupied for five days.

When you arrive at the Park gate, you are told to go directly to the camp. It was hard to go directly when, within 5 minutes of the gate, I came across some giraffe and several zebras. I couldn't resist stopping to snap this photo.

One day, at Tsumcor waterhole, I looked into the rear vision mirrors of the car. It's not every day one sees a giraffe in one mirror and an elephant in the other!

Giraffe on the road between the main gate at Okaukuejo camp in Etosha National Park
View of a giraffe in the car mirror at Tsumcor waterhole, Etosha National Park in Namibia View of an elephant in the car mirror at Tsumcor waterhole, Etosha National Park in Namibia
View over Etosha Pan from Salvadora waterhole

The park hugs the Etosha Pan, a dry lake bed that stretches, absolutely flat, to the horizon.

In spite of my best efforts, I couldn't shake off the sensation that I was driving along a coastline. The very turns in the road, the stream beds, the formations in the sand have the unmistakeable feel of the coast. But instead of glistening water, there is cracked earth as flat and as far as one can imagine.

This is a view from the Salvadora waterhole looking over the pan.

Elephant on the road to Goas waterhole

The park's vegetation ranges from open grassy plains to mopane woodland. As a tourist, you spend your time driving from one waterhole to the next, amazed and intrigued by the wildlife. Each waterhole has a name, and is marked on the maps with which each tourist is armed.

It's a leisurely place. You must be within one of the three camps from sunset to sunrise. The speed limit is 60kmh. But you're not allowed out of the car. So each day, I packed some food, the camera and a map in the car, and set off to see what I could find.

You do get very close to the wildlife. Here, several cars come across an elephant on the road just before the Goas waterhole.

Okaukuejo camp photographed from my bungalow

There are three camps, spread through the camp, 75km apart. I stayed at all three: Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutomi. The camps remind me of childhood holidays in Australian caravan parks in the 1960s. Accommodation is simple, but pleasant, and I got to stay in a big range of types of accommodation.

This photo looks across the Okaukuejo camp from my bungalow to a picnic area.

Other web sites with photos of Etosha National Park

I'm not the only person who has tried to capture Etosha National Park on film. Some have done it distinctly better than I have. Most have been cleverly more selective than I. Here are links to some of the best I've seen.

James Warwick, UK

R J Preston, UK

Jacek Piwowarczyk, Hong Kong

If some of the pictures at a waterhole look similar, it's because they're taken at the waterhole at Okaukuejo camp, which is open all day and lit all night. Africam.com has a webcam at the waterhole, so you can to see what's at the waterhole right now.

Next: Antelope at Etosha National Park