ETOSHA GAME PARK, NAMIBIA

We have spent many visits to Namibia on the coast, and felt that it was about time that we explored a little of the inland potential of this wonderful country.

With a spare week in our holiday calendar we booked up for a wide ranging and at times high speed tour of north-eastern Namibia. Two friends that had never ventured as far as Africa joined us, and we tempered our usual drive for maximum fishing to take in some of the wonderous wild life. Neil and Stephen have yet to come down from the 'high' that is associated with one's first visit to Namibia, having experienced large game at close quarters, the awesome Victoria Falls and the tranquillity of a Caprivi riverside lodge.

First stop on arrival at Windhoek International Airport was Imperial Car Hire to pick up our rented Toyota Conder, and then off to Windhoek to quickly 'touch base' with some old friends, and buy some provisions for the journey north - basically water and some 'lite bites'. Then off to the main route north, the B1, or the Trans-Kalahari Highway. A tarred road that provides the main overland transport link from RSA, through Namibia onto Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

We were heading for Etosha National Park, with 2 nights stay at Mushara Lodge, just outside the main park; some 550 km from Windhoek. First stop was Okahandja for fuel and some lunch, which worked out to be a freshly cooked chicken, some bread rolls, and other bits; already for a picnic at one of the many roadside picnic areas that dot the roads in Namibia. These are usually under the shade of a large tree, with tables and benches and a waste bin. An aspect of the whole of Namibia that continues to impress us, is their huge pride in their country, and their attitude towards litter - there is none!

After breaking our journey for lunch we headed north, through Otjwaronga, and a brief fuel stop, heading for Otavi, and finally Tsumeb. Stopping at all these towns for fuel was one of the small pieces of local wisdom that we had been given, and certainly made sure that we would never run the risk of running out of fuel. The stops also provide us with glimpses of some very beautiful small towns, that seem at contrast with the changing, but very sparse countryside. Apart from a slight miscalculation with the road signs in Tsumeb, we entered our final leg to Mushara Lodge. The countryside had change considerably, the road started to rise and fall, and we no longer saw the 'Roman' influence that we had all commented on during the majority of the journey. The dead straight roads gave way to twists and turns, and the changing countryside offered more in the way of visible wildlife. We stopped at one point to watch a family of Baboons in some trees, followed by some comical antics of Yellow Hornbills.

Our arrival at Mushara saw us all a little weary of travel, and we just unwound for the couple of hours before our evening meal. We had finally stopped travelling almost exactly 24 hours after we first entered Heathrow Airport the day before. Mushara in July, is in the midst of their winter, and despite the cooling air after the sun went down, we felt very comfortable with the temperature, though the local folks were definitely feeling the cold!!! The upside of this cooler climate, is that there are no mosquitoes, shear heaven when compared to some of our previous African trips, where an unprotected European is treated as pure delight by the local mosquito population.

After our splendid meal, and the evening chorus of the woodland birds, we arranged for an early start the following morning, to collect our pack lunches, and be at the gates of Etosha Park, as soon as they were open. We had been advised to skip the 'tourist tours and guided trips', and to take our own car into the park, and just park up at selected waterholes - seek wisdom from the local guides or the park rangers; and wait for the animals to come to you. This we must say worked a treat. Sure we saw all the tour buses arrive and depart from the waterholes, but they were obviously on a tight schedule to get around all the waterholes in the one day. We however just covered 4, and in the final analysis saw a great deal more than any of the guided tourists.

The picture 'trail' that follows gives some idea as to the wonders of Etosha, and our next destination in Caprivi.

En-route to Mushara we saw these animals

		Baboon, Hornbill, Female Hornbill and Kudu
		Termite Hills, Small lizard, weaver bird nests and unidentified bird

We have now arrived at Mushara Lodge, which was exceptional, the staff very friendly and the food excellent

		The lodge entrance Pool Area Bunaglow Dining Area

Our one day in Etosha, was planned to take in 4 waterholes, given the guidence we had received. Our friend had suggested that you should park up at a small number of chosen waterholes, and just wait for the animals to arrive, as they most certainly did. We opted to take this route as this would allow us maximum time to watch and observe the various animals as they came to drink. We spent some 2 hours at some of the waterholes, only to see the sight-seeing coaches come and go within 15 mins, not wanting to wait and see what might turn up!

Please now join us on our whistle stop tour of four waterholes in Etosha

Our first waterhole was to be Kalkheuwel: and this is the road there

These are some of the animals we saw:-

		Springbok Hartland Zebra, Wilderbeest Black Faced Impala Giraffe and Kori Bustard

We have now arrived at the waterhole:

		Hartland Zebra,Oryx and Eland Oryx Black Faced Impala Oryx and Eland Eland Giraffe Giraffe, Hartland Zebra and Oryx Oryx Oryx, Hartland Zebra and Impala The Waterhole Hartland Zebra Giraffe Drinking at the Waterhole

We are now at our second waterhole - Okerfontein:

This is waterhole is right on the edge of the salt pan, and these are some of the animals that were around:-

		Cheetah Wilderbeest Springbok Wilderbeest Hartland Zebra and Springbok in parking area Hartland Zebra Warthog Eland and Springbok, Hartland Zebras

We are now driving back towards Namutoni

We are entering Elephant country!!

		Female Eland Elephants Helmeted Guinea Fowl Female Hornbill Mother and baby Giraffe Oryx Ostrich The landscape

Our third waterhole is Tsumcor

This is a prime waterhole for seeing Elephants



We are now nearing the end of our journey and have one last waterhole to visit at

Klein Okevi

Here we saw a mother and baby Giraffe with a smattering of Zebra coming to drink. The bird life was in profusion, small finches with amazing colours, but just too far away and too fast to be able to photograph.



We are now about to fly off to Caprivi

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