Thursday Sept 15 – Etosha National Park

GAME ON!

Today we left the Okaukuejo compound to travel to Namutoni, our second stay within Etosha. We’ve seen so many animals that we don’t bother stopping for the stray giraffe or elephant, unless there’s something special about it. Well, we’ve seen a number of lions but today we spotted one with a full mane so that definitely deserved a photo stop.

Not long after we saw a large group of zebras and when we turned off onto a side dirt road to watch them, we were surrounded by hundreds of them, plus wildebeest as they headed to another area within Etosha – a mini migration. Apparently zebras and wildebeest usually travel together. All up, there must have been over a thousand zebras – and we were only at the tail end of the herd. One zebra stood out from the others with its abnormal colouring. Even Innocent and Cosmos acknowledged that such a large group of zebras travelling together and the partially black zebra were very unusual sights.

Back of the herd

Black "sheep"

 

Typical pose for zebras - shoulder to shoulder



Foursome

We then came across a breeding herd of elephants, lots of females with a group of young elephants, trying to cross the road in front of us. It was obvious where their path crossed the road but it didn’t stop a car parking in that area to watch them. Well, the elephants wouldn’t cross until the car moved and some were getting a little agitated about it. Finally the driver caught on and reversed and the elephants crossed.

Etosha National Park covers just under 23,000 square kilometres and within this area is the Etosha Pan, approximately 4,700 square kilometres of whitish clay which is mostly dry but can flood after heavy rains. It then comes alive with flamingos but there were none about now.

At our lodge tonight, I again opted out of a late evening game drive to have some downtime, which I was especially glad about when I saw that my bathroom had a huge bath plus outside showering area, even though outside was alive with mossies. Considering we’re staying in national parks here, the accommodation has been first rate!