Etosha. The name alone, for me, conjures up everything about Africa that I love so much. Endless landscapes, enormous skies, game viewing and LandRovers, Ricoffy and guinea fowl, grunting hippos, salt pans and sundowners. Freedom. Beauty. Nature. Magic.
We had six nights in Etosha, starting from the western edge and making our way to the eastern most gate. Etosha is, to put it bluntly, ENORMOUS. As in, 8600 square miles. And in all of this space, there are only 5 camps at which to stay and they are spread out, so you’d better be booked in. The camps are all fenced off, so you’re safe-ish from game. Between camps, you’re not allowed to leave your vehicle, picnic or otherwise get out. When the kids needed to ‘kick the back tire’, we’d open the doors at a spot that seemed safe-ish and let them pee from the sides of the car, scanning nervously in every direction. At one point, when the vegetation was too dense and the situation became urgent, I believe someone (no names) may have even used an old bottle….But I digress…
We’d planned to stock up on ice, food and beer before entering the gates but it turns out that it was some Namibian national holiday (no one could precisely what holiday, but that’s beside the point), so everything in the tiny town of Kamanjab was closed. By the time we cleared Etosha’s Galton Gate, we were starving, had little in the way of lunch and about 3 hours of driving through the park before getting to our campsite.
Hungry and hot, we stopped at Dolomite Camp hoping that we could find some lunch. It turned out to be a beautiful spot, glamorous thatched chalets built along the dolomite hills and connected by a series of boardwalks and white tented pavilions. When we pulled up, a sign instructed us to honk our horn and remain in our vehicle. Sure enough, within 2 minutes, a golf cart appeared and ferried us up the winding paths to the lodge. Instead of just staying for a quick lunch, the staff invited us to use the infinity pool and the free wifi. An offer we have learned to never refuse. I felt kinda badly (but not that badly) when I noticed how much sand and grit we’d left behind in the otherwise immaculate pool. The dirty Newlands strike again…
A few hours later, we limped into Etosha’s newest campground – Olifantsrus. It’s very barebones with only 10 sites, no amenities, communal ablution blocks and a couple of shared water taps. To make up for the lack of everything else, there’s a gorgeous elevated waterhole with free wine. Ok, I made up the part about free wine, but the waterhole is elevated. And gorgeous.
We slept just feet away from the very wimpy-looking fence that separated us from the fearsome beasts we heard all night long. (They were probably baby antelope or maybe badgers, but still….this is AFRICA. Where even chubby old hippos kill people. Like, all the time). We didn’t have much luck at the waterhole, beyond a jackal or two, but it was still fun to listen to the sounds of the bush.
The next day, we drove all morning and got to Okaukuejo, the biggest camp in Etosha. It’s almost like a little city with a post office, restaurant, medical clinic, small grocery store. We were meant to be camping, but after all the sickness and the heat, I had a bit of a breakdown. We pulled out the emergency plastic and booked ourselves into basic chalets instead. Best. Decision. Ever. Because by now, Mike was sick too.
One of the best parts of Okaukuejo is sitting around the main lodge at night, drinking wine and chatting with all the other visitors to find out who-saw-what-where. Having not spotted any cats, we were determined to find them. After a couple of nights of quizzing our fellow travellers, we came up with a strategic new off-the-beaten-track route to find our feline friends. And wow, did we ever! I think our final count one day was 24. We were treated to some very up-close and personal sightings…some just lazing at the side of a track. An entire pride under a tree. Mesmerizing in every way. Especially when they began repeatedly and noisily “making love” (Tom’s words, uttered with a 9 year old’s disgust).
We spent two nights at Okaukeujo. Lucy still wasn’t eating, so we took her to the little clinic. She was treated by a stern nurse, wearing what appeared to be Sgt. Pepper’s jacket. But by the end of the examination, she was dispensed an array of antibiotics, fever reducers and multivitamins and given a big hug. For the grand sum of $6. Amazing. Score three for the Namibian healthcare system.
The boys and I did some game drives while Lucy and Mike slept off their weariness in the air-conditioned chalets. Henry spotted a hyena hiding under a bush two feet from our car and we saw countless impala, springbok, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest. We saw black rhino at the waterholes in the evening and a few lone bull elephant wandering by. By the time our three days at Okaukuejo were up, Mike and Lucy were both on the mend and we were ready to move on.
Our next night was spent at Halali where we did an early morning (ugh..5:30am) game drive. Our guide was a passionate naturalist and gave the kids some gruesome insight into Africa’s ongoing fight against poaching. And he swore a lot, which delighted the kids even more than the gruesome stories. He seemed to harbour a particular dislike for my favourite zebras “they’re lazy bastards“, but we were all taken by his obvious love for his job and his country. We learned a ton from him and couldn’t believe what he was able to spot – everything from lions to bat-eared foxes to dung beetles crossing the road. We’d have driven right past them. Or, over them, more likely.
From Halali, we again ditched camping plans and instead spent two nights at our favourite digs yet – Onguma Bush Camp. I felt like I was on a movie set – it was so beautiful. With our chalets came breakfast and dinner-under-the-stars. The lovely Namibian chef, Otilie, had us all drooling with each meal. And I literally wanted to kiss the air-con units. Scratch that. I wanted to marry the air-con units. It’s really THAT HOT in Namibia in December.
Onguma is a private reserve bordering Etosha. While there, we continued with our game drives, but we’d kinda run out of steam. Being in such a nice spot made it hard to motivate ourselves. Henry and I did a 4 hour game drive together, leaving the other three back at Onguma. We went off in search of the elusive leopard and traversed Fischer’s Pan trying to ‘bag’ one. No such luck. Instead, we spotted flocks of flamingo, jackals and giraffe, kudu and the rare black-faced impala, as well as warthogs (my fave), beautiful birds and lots of other game.
Now that we were all healthy, well rested, well fed and still missing two sightings of the ‘Big Five’ (buffalo and leopard), we were sad to leave Etosha. But more adventures were waiting for us along Namibia’s wettest region – the Caprivi Strip.