Waterhole Politics in Etosha National Park

---

We have spent a few relaxing days in the surprisingly European city of Windhoek, much of the time was spent sorting out the rest of the trip but for once the information centre was really helpful, great free maps and accommodation guides whcih makes a change.

For Matt's birthday we headed to the Casa Blanca hotel which was the most luxurious thing we have done in months! It was like an old moorish castle covered in beautiful bougainvillea flowers. For dinner we headed to the famous Joe's Beerhouse, a restaurant well known for its game meat (which is actually farmed), it was such a fun place. It is huge, full of old farming African relics, the bar stools are old wooden toilet seats, deers' heads hang from the wall, with huge the fish in the small pond and there were all sorts of signs and pictures over the walls. I enjoyed a lovely kudu loin and Matt had the gemsbok. Absolutely delicious, we will be heading back here on our way back through Windhoek.

Public transport to any of the more interesting regions in Namibia are virtually non-existent so we decided to hire a rental car. We should have known the deal we got over the internet was too good to be true. What they did not state anywhere was that full insurance was compulsory as the rental car is not insured at all, this meant that our car rental went from £330 to £1500. Without the insurance we would be liable for the full amount of the value of the car should it be damaged or stolen. Given that this policy is so different to any other country, this was not the first time that Europcar had had this problem, basically their terms are so generic that it does not mention this key fact. In the end we kicked up enough of a fuss that we got a much better car than we had selected and the manager did us a deal on the insurance. It still cost us £400 more than we intended which was a really bad way to start the trip.

It is so nice to be in a car again going at our own pace although when we were backpacking on public transport most people left us alone (we look so scruffy that they probably think we are not worth mugging) but now we are in a flash car and to be honest we felt much more vulnerable. I suggested to Matt that we should keep the doors of the car locked while we are driving through the city and lucky we did. When we stopped at the lights a guy came up and banged on the driver's window and tried to open the door, wanting money.

Our next challenge was to find a cheap tent. Accommodation here is ridiculously priced which meant that we have to camp for another month, even camping costs are upwards of £30 per night. We found a tent for a reasonable price (we were hoping to sell it but as it turns out the tent is rubbish!).

Our first night out of Windhoek was spent at Gross Barmen Hot Spring, about 70km away. We were expecting Hanmer Springs but think the comedy Hi-De-Hi back in the '80s. The camp was pretty much empty, so much so that when we were walking around they were begging for us to eat in their restaurant. Apparently it is very busy here in the weekends and I imagine it was a great site in the 1970s but not much has been done since then. The thermal hot pools were not quite what we were expecting, but at least they were hot!

Our next stop was Otjiwarongo, a small farmers town where we visited the Cheetah Conversation Fund. It was amazing. The centre looks after cheetahs that have been injured or orphaned. They cannot be released back into the wild because they were orphaned before being taught how to hunt. The centre also carries out much needed research and provide farmers with important resources including guard dogs which protect their stock from the cheetahs and hopefully this in turn prevents the farmer from shooting the cheetah.

We watched the cheetahs feeding which was fantastic. When they released the males into the feeding cage they were really aggressive with each other and sprinted in to get their meal. They then prowled around the area looking for somewhere safe to eat before deciding the bowl where they got the meat from was probably the best option. They all seemed to struggle chewing the bones and ripping the meat off the bone while the meat was in the bowl. Only one cheetah had managed to work this out by tipping the bowl on the side so he could use his paws to hold the food and bowl. The females were much more subdued. Cheetahs do not roar and we listened to them purring which was gorgeous.

Our final stop before Etosha National Park was Tsumeb. It was a pretty little mining town with flowering bougainvillea's everywhere. The little museum occupied us for a while, with old tribal ornaments and photographs, mining equipment and memorabilia from the war. We decided to camp at Kupferquelle Resort. At N$230 it was expensive but it was brand new with lovely lawns where we could pitch our tent (instead of the dust holes we have been using), a laundry, immaculate bathrooms and an Olympic sized pool. We could sit under the trees and drink a cup of tea, eating biscuits and watching the young boys show off with their back flips into the pool.

While we were cooking our dinner, a helicopter flew overhead and landed in the car park and all the roads were blocked with policemen. Assuming that it was someone famous we headed out for a look and saw a young couple come out of the helicopter, so we assumed that it was a wedding as all the guests were waiting outside and clapped as they walked into the conference centre. Then a tractor turned up with more couples and an earth mover and so it continued. We then noticed strange young boys around dressed up as Aladdin and we finally realised that it must have been the end of school ball. A novel way of turning up to a ball and much more interesting than a limousine.

Finally we arrived at Namutoni Camp in Etosha. Namutoni is a whitewashed German fort. It originally served as an outpost for German troops but they were defeated by 500 Owambo warriors. After renovation it then served as a police outpost before being restored to its current glory. Etosha means Great White Place of Dry Water which is taken from the huge white-greenish pan which is an immense flat saline desert covering over 5000 sq km. It was lovely and dry which meant we should see plenty of animals congregating at the waterholes and we were not disappointed.

To be in the park in your own vehicle watching the wildlife was superb. The first waterhole we visited was Twee Palms where we watched two elephants drinking and splash about in the mud. We quickly worked out waterhole politics, despite looking like gentle giants the elephants control the waterhole and the others just have to wait their turn. Zebra, wildebeest, kudu and springbook waited patiently on the side while the elephants nearly sucked the waterhole dry. A couple of brave antelope would try and sneak in for a drink only to be forced away by the charging trumpeting elephant.

Our next stop was the Aroe waterhole where we could not believe our luck, a white rhino and best of all there was not another car in sight. The rhino was sharing the waterhole with a herd of elephants who were covering themselves with mud and slurping the muddy water. The rhino backed away when another car came scaring the kudu who was waiting in the bush. Rhino have notorious tempers yet this one seemed so graceful for such a big animal and so timid.

The highlight of the afternoon was the Tsumcor waterhole. As we rounded the corner the amount of animals sharing this waterhole was spectacular. A huge herd of elephants dominated the waterhole while the kudu, gemsbok and zebra negotiated a safe place to drink. Baby elephants were well protected by the matriarch, a bull elephant was challenged by a younger male, they charged and trumpeted and the ever patient giraffe waited in the background for all the animals to leave before heading to the waterhole. It was painful to watch the giraffe drink, they are so shy and obviously very vulnerable when drinking so it takes a good 15 minutes per giraffe to negotiate the safest place to drink and slowly lower themselves into a comfortable position. Any slight sound meant the giraffe would jump up and run away, often knocking into each other. The diversity of the animals in this area was amazing.

After dinner we headed to the floodlit waterhole and watched a hyena come down to drink before sneaking back into the bushes.

After an early start the next morning, we headed towards Halali, a camp in the centre of the park. We did not see much in the morning game drive but there was a huge bull elephant on the side of the road eating and another herd where we accidentally got between the mother elephant and her baby causing her to charge at the car and trumpet loudly. It all got very exciting once we reached Goas waterhole where two male lions sat by the water protecting a recent kill, while springbok nervously waited on the other side of the water, with giraffe in the background ... and then along came the biggest herd of elephants to the upper waterhole, walking in tight formation with the young hiding behind the mother, sending the giraffe scampering again, even the lions gave them a wide berth.

Near sunset we thought we would try Goas waterhole again and see what those lazy lions were up to. To paint the scene, the two male lions had not moved, giraffe were in the background keeping a close eye on proceedings at the top waterhole and a huge pack of hyenas were making their way to the waterhole, fending off the lions to get the rest of the kill. The lions had clearly finished but seemed to enjoy taunting the hyenas, every time they got close the lion would get up and chase the hyenas away. The leader of the pack decided to go through the water and managed to grab the horns of the beast and run off while the other hyenas then followed suit. The lions then got bored and moved away allowing the laughing scavengers to feast. They whined, laughed and fought with each other over the scraps, one hyena was chased by a member of the pack, laughing and whinnying as he was chased finally losing his feast to the challenger.

Then came the elephants and most of the animals scattered, one brave hyena allowed the elephant to come right up to him and trumpet with his ears flapping before scampering off with the drawl flinging from his open mouth.

The floodlit waterhole at Halali was the perfect place to sit with a drink and watch. A pack of hyenas, cervet cats and giraffe visit the waterhole. What we thought was a rock was actually a rhino and her baby who then bolted up from their slumber when a male rhino made an appearance. The noises and posturing that went on between the rhinos was magnificent with the mother strenuously defending her calf and sending the male scampering back into the bushes.

At sunrise we left Halali and headed towards Okaukuejo. The best day yet, two beautiful cheetahs on the side of the road relaxing in the shade of a tree. We watched them for an hour as they got up and stretched, yawned and cleaned themselves. Our next stop was Gemsbokvlakte where we witnessed an exciting scene, lions taking control of the waterhole while literally hundreds of herbivores waited patiently. There is power in numbers and a huge herd of zebra pushed forward fearless of the lions until a young lion decided to play and ran up to them sending them scampering. Impala and gemsbok nervously waited for the lions move away. The little cubs played and snuggled with the lioness'. A bull elephant barged through the chaos, unafraid of the pride to drink. The lions kept a close eye on him. A younger bull turned up at the scene and the two elephants pranced around each other fighting over territory of the waterhole.

Okaukuejo functions as the parks headquarters and the waterhole is magnificent. After an uneventful afternoon game drive and after dinner we grabbed a bottle of wine and spent the evening at the waterhole. At least 20 giraffe, 5 rhino, including a baby and two elephants visited the waterhole while we we watching. The bull elephants charged at the rhino sending him to the shadows while they slurped up the water and played. The mother rhino fiercely protected her calf from the advancing male, we heard the crashing of their horns as they fought and the grunts of warning. It was absolutely magical.

Up early again for our final morning game drive. We headed to Okondeka where a pride of lions was relaxing between the waterhole and the road. They were not doing much so we headed towards Leebron and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement, closer inspection showed nine lions, two huge males resting not far from the road. We waited in anticipation as a lone wildebeest crossed in front of them but they obviously were not hungry - while they kept an eye on what he was up to they did not move. A few of them eventually got up only to walk less than 20m to another spot before flopping down to enjoy the warmth of the morning sun. We thought we would check up on what the other group of lions were up to, they had not moved but a big male came from the other side of the waterhole for a drink, the rest of the animals gave him a wide berth.

Etosha was fantastic, an absolute highlight of our African adventure. Our next stop is a visit to the Himba tribe in Opuwo.

---