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Published: September 22nd 2012
At night it is difficult to sleep with the wind blowing and the thunder and lightning outside. So we are ready for the early breakfast which is again a cold buffet and eggs. The waterhole receives a lot of birds in the morning so we are able to see quite a few interesting and nicely colored birds while we are moving our luggage to the car and check out. Today we have a smaller distance to cover than in previous days however it is mostly through Etosha National Park where the speed limit is only 60 km/h compared to 100 km/h on dirt roads outside the National Park.
Even though now we know that the road through Onguma up to the main road is full of animals we are again surprised by the number of animals on a stretch of only 13 km. Right outside the gate we find a few springbok who really appear bored and don't even move and then shortly afterwards we see zebras and wildebeest and of course a lot of birds.
And then we enter Etosha. Etosha was first established as a game reserve in 1907 by Germany, the colonial ruler at that time, and had a surface area of about 100,000 km² (38,500 mile²) similar to current day Hungary or Portugal. As a comparison Yellowstone NP in the US has 9,000 km². However with all the political changes across the years and population pressure the protected surface has been reduced to a quarter of the original area which is still a huge area that we are trying to traverse today. At the entrance gate again we enter all the information about us and the car and then we are directed to the nearby Rest Camp Namutoni to pay the entrance fee. The road up to Namutoni is still paved but we drive carefully and almost immediately after the entrance we notice our first giraffe which is eating from the trees at the side of the road. It is by no means the only wildlife we see as there are lots of springboks crossing the road and also a few hornbills and bustards and we stop a lot to take pictures.
We arrive at Namutoni and find the reception immediately and we go inside to pay the entrance fee for the park. The park has a few simple rules the major ones being "do not exit out of cars outside of developed areas such as rest camps" and "exit the park or be in a rest camp by sunset". The first one we definitely intend to keep and the second one we hope that we can keep. As we return to the car we notice that a troop of mongooses has (again) taken an inordinate interest in our car and are jumping in the motor area and examining it. We try to shoo them away but no luck so we go to visit the rest camp and hope they are gone when we are back. The rest camp is an old German fort and it looks like it with a defensive wall that repelled an attack of Hereros back in the early 20th century. Inside the camp are a few shops where we buy some souvenirs. Then we go to the waterhole which is the first one that we see which is typical of Etosha with lots of animals just sitting or drinking. While leaving we stop at the gas station to fill the tank - gas stations are at a premium in the area so we want to be prepared.
Our plan from Namutoni is simple: drive west and stop at all waterholes close to the road as we make our way to Dolomite Camp, the rest camp in Etosha that is our accomodation for the night. Even before the first waterhole we see a pair of jackals sleeping near the road and a wildebeest who suddenly got agitated and started running randomly.
The first waterhole where we stop is Chudop. It has an incredible mix of antelopes especially springbok and oryx but there are also a few giraffes wandering about and a few jackals. There are also quite a few tourists both from Onguma and Namutoni so after taking in the view we move on.
The road through the Eastern part of Etosha is in great shape and passes through changing habitats with the majority being savanna with hip height grass.
We do not have to go far to meet our first elephant for the day who is eating right next to the road with quite a few cars stopped to take pictures. We also stop and take pictures but after a few minutes of watching him eat we decide to move on. This was a good decision as we find more elephants further down the road and also wildebeest and zebras. At almost every turn we see some animals mostly springbok and zebras.
The centerpiece, geologically, of Etosha is the Etosha Pan. This is a large mostly dry salt lake that receives water only in the rainy season. At that point the animals are more difficult to see as they do not have to rely on the waterholes and can drink water from many other sources which makes wildlife viewing more difficult. We are here in the dry season so we are treated with views of the vast expanse of the pan vegetationless and featureless - it feels almost like you are on a different planet. We have seen something similar in the US in Death Valley however here especially with the light fog you cannot see the other side. It is allowed to walk on it and we do to have a feeling of the area - quite interesting. Even with it being so bleak we still observe a few zebras that appear to be resting on the salt pan.
And then we move toward Okaukuejo Rest Camp with lots of stops along the way both for animals near the road and for waterholes. We see lots and lots of elephants both in groups and single. We notice some of them playing around and other taking a bath and others just eating and doing elephanty things. Far of the road we also notice our first ostriches first just one and then suddenly as if the floodgates have opened we see ostriches everywhere. There are also a few hartebeest antelope and everywhere there are springboks, oryx and zebras. In the afternoon we arrive at the Okaukuejo Rest Camp where we buy some provisions and again fill up the gas as there is no gas further in the park.
Starting from here we enter the wild section of Etosha. While the road between Okaukuejo and Namutoni is travelled regularly the road to Dolomite is restricted after about 60km to people who have a reservation, which we do. We notice immediately the drop off in cars and the animals seem also a bit more shy. There are also more trees which allows us to see our first huge weaverbird nest.
And then we get to the restricted area and for the next 120 km we meet only 1 car. The road also deteriorates in places being quite corrugated while still remaining good on average. Some waterholes are out of action however those that are working have the usual array of animals with more ostriches and what seem to be larger elephants. We are careful around here as the animals supposedly are not so used to cars but they ignore us studiously.
Even though we had over 2 1/2h when we started on the restricted road due to stops and the condition of the road the going is slow and we start to get worried on whether we will be able to make it to the camp before sunset. Zebras sleeping on the street and springbok single filing along the road do not help as well as a huge monitor lizard leisurely passing in front of our car makes us keep our eyes open and the speed down. In the end we arrive at the camp right as the sun disappears below the horizon - we made it in time.
Next question for us is how to get to the camp. The parking is at the base of a hill while the camp is on top. The answer is appearing almost immediately, a golf cart that we fill with our belongings and takes us to the reception while the cart winds further up the path towards the cabins. Dolomite Camp is a state owned accomodation like Waterberg however the quality is quite different. One reason is that it was built only last year to compete against luxury lodges and you can see it when compared to Waterberg. After signing in we go back to the cart which takes us to our cabin. There is quite some walk to it from the cart so this time the baggage handler really deserved the tip. The cabin is beautiful with great views of the savannah outside. We are really tired and still full so we do not eat dinner at the restaurant today even though it is relatively cheap but we eat outside on our veranda from our provisions while enjoying the view and the appearing stars. After that we plan for the next day and try to identify the southern stars and constellations using our mobile planetarium. Finally we get spooked by some sounds and the mosquitoes and go inside to rest.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
DRY BUT PLENTY OF ANIMALS
Your blog brings back memories of game drives in Eastern Africa...and no matter how desolate...life in abundance. Interesting to see mongooses...I've not seen those in Africa.