Etosha National Park

Don’t be misled by the arid landscapes of northern Namibia, Etosha National Park has some of the finest wildlife viewing anywhere in southern Africa. Shimmering in the heat haze, it is dominated by Etosha pan.

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A vast salt-encrusted lake bed during Namibia’s rainless dry season months of May to October, it’s incredible numbers of wildlife are sustained by a series of permanent man-made waterholes until the wetter winter, making sightings of your favourite creatures easier than almost anywhere else.

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From November to April, the pan takes on an altogether different appearance. Slowly refilling to become a shallow pool, now it reflects the bright plumage of thousands of flamingos undertaking their annual courtship displays. Pull your eyes away for a moment, to the mix of hardy grasses and mopane woodland, and you also have a good chance of spotting the great and the good of African safaris seeking shade.

Etosha’s lion population is thought to number close to 500 animals split between several prides, while elephant herds hitting three figures aren’t uncommon. If that wasn’t enough, Etosha National Park is one of the best places left on the continent to encounter highly-endangered black rhino. Beyond the big names, a total of 114 mammal species reside in the park, from elegant gemsbok (oryx) to prickly porcupine, accompanied by no less than 340 different species of bird including ostrich, bateleur eagle and pelican.

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Spanning 22,000 square kilometres, the national park is two-thirds the size of Belgium. A trip to Etosha is therefore a holiday in its own right – plan to spend as long as you can here. A week is not excessive.

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The park’s main road roughly follows the contours of the pan’s southern limits, connecting Andersson Gate in the southwest with Von Lindequist Gate to the east. The eastern section of the park, sometimes called Namutoni after the camp here, tends to be the busiest. Don’t be surprised to see ten or twenty other safari vehicles scouting around at peak season. It also has some of the park’s most varied wildlife sightings, with the chance to spot everything from rare black-faced impala to cute-as-can-be dik-dik.

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More centrally, you’ll find Halali and then Okaukeujo camps, whose water holes are the home territories of black rhino. Okaukeujo’s water hole is flood lit at night, providing an alternative viewpoint to daytime game drives. For elephant, you can do a lot worse than Olifantsbad, a little further south and east.

Etosha’s quietest sector is its west. Swapping the level moonscapes of the pan for rocky, hilly terrain a gentle red in hue, it only opened to self-drive visitors in 2014. The change is landscape means a change in the species you might encounter. Hartmann’s mountain zebra are added to a list which otherwise includes lions and hyena, making this remote area of Etosha worth the journey.