Traveling through Southern Africa (Part 7) –Etosha National Park, Around Namutoni Camp

Etosha National Park covers an area of 22,270 square kilometers.  It is home to 114 mammal and 340 bird species.  Etosha means "Great White Place" and the park is dominated by a massive mineral pan, the floor of which was formed around 100 million years ago and covers around 25% of Etosha. The pan fills only if the rains are heavy and even then the water stays only for a short time. This temporary lake attracts thousands of wading birds including flocks of flamingos.

Due to the arid grasslands and open bush, the game viewing in Etosha National Park is excellent, especially around the many waterholes.  Visitors to the Etosha reserve can expect to see many antelope species, elephant, giraffe, hyena, rhino and lions.  In the entire park, there are only three rest camps - Namutoni, Halali and Okaukuejo (plus a new luxury camp, Onkosh).  We entered the park by the Von Lindequist Gate where a warthog suckling her young greeted us.  That night, we stayed at Namutoni.

Every camp has a lighted waterhole and seating on the camp side of an electric fence so that guests can enjoy the nightlife in safety.  That night we watched jackal, zebras, springbok and rhino before walking back to the tent for an early night.
 

We left camp at 6AM the next morning for a game drive. I had never seen such large herds of springbok, wildebeest and zebra congregating around the water holes.  We even had the opportunity to watch the long awkward process of giraffe lowering their heads to the water for a drink.

 
 Later in the morning, we had our first sightings of hyena and lion, but with the sun growing stronger, the day was getting hot, so by late morning it was time to head back to Namutoni for a large breakfast.  After a rest, it was time to break camp and head to the next adventure.