Etosha Day 3 (7-24)

Sunday morning I went to the waterhole on the way to breakfast. Two springboks came to drink. 

Then I saw the most red-breasted bird I’ve ever seen. It certainly showed that “robin red breast” doesn’t have a red breast.

After breakfast we started on our return journey out of the park and back to town. We took the alternate route that we hadn’t taken Saturday. After forty minutes, we saw a bunch of cars parked, which means something exciting is happening, and there was space for us to park right up front facing inward so that we all had a great view. Two lions were lying about fifteen feet from the road. I was surprised that they were lying there exposed in the middle of the flat, treeless, grassless land. Morne pointed out that they were keeping warm in the sun. And I realized that they didn’t need to worry about cover to protect them from predators because they are the predators. 

In our fifteen minutes watching them, they got up 

and walked a short distance. 

Then he humped her, 

and they laid down again. Pretty exciting!

The first waterhole had an abundance of springboks, kudus, impalas, red hartebeests, and zebras.

It seemed to be zebra gathering time at the next waterhole, as lines of them were arriving in great numbers from three directions.

Next we drove along the Etosha salt pan with its eerie mirages.

We came to two cheetahs resting under a bush while guarding their freshly killed springbok. 

Some of the people in other cars must have seen the killing, which would have been exciting. Clearly, nothing was going to happen soon, and we were on a schedule to get Kate to the airport on time. So on we drove.

We had lunch at the Namutoni restaurant before heading out of the park. On the way, we stopped at the last waterhole before the exit. We hadn’t seen any animals there on the way in, but now there were many zebras and giraffes and some gemsboks in the distance. 

After several minutes, Morne noticed that the animals were on alert as a lion had come around the wall. 

All activity stopped as they stood still and watched her. 

She walked in front of the wall and then back to a ditch where she was joined by three other lions, one male. 

They all walked down into the ditch and settled to rest. 

Then the other animals relaxed and started drinking and moving again. As Morne said, something was going to be killed later in the day. But now it was rest time. When we exited, he told the guards about the lions, and the car behind us turned back. It would have been difficult to see them without knowing exactly where they were, as the heads that were visible blended in with the rocks from the distance.

We got Kate to the airport on time, and Morne delivered me home. The safari was over all too quickly. It was like being in another world. We saw a huge number and variety of animals: 7 lions, 2 cheetahs. 5 rhinos, 1 hyena, 2 jackals, 1 fox, 1 honey badger, a group of banded mongoose, and uncountable elephants, zebras, giraffes, gemboks/oryx, springboks, red hartebeests, wildebeests, kudus, impalas, and elands. A huge success!!

Etosha Day 2 (7-23)

Saturday morning we started our drive to the guesthouse on the southern side of the park. The main road has a lot of side roads to waterholes, and we took most of them, having a leisurely drive to see as many animals as possible.

The terrain changed as we drove through the park.

Since we were driving near the salt pan, the ground and trees were covered with white dust. 

The acacia trees were leafless and short.

In other places there was grass.

On the hills at Halil there are ghost trees, named because the trunks are white and they have no leaves. However, beside the waterhole there is a ghost tree with leaves because of the supply of water.

The natural waterholes are scenic in themselves even without animals. 

But animals add a special element to the beauty.

Repeating animal highlights

One waterhole had a bunch of kudu along with some impalas. 

In another section there were zebra and an ostrich and guinea fowl were walking around.

A watch zebra stood in the road while others approached and crossed the road.

An old elephant approached the road and crossed in front of us.

Elephants interacting

We saw several special birds:

Hornbill

Kori bustard

Secretary bird

Lilac breasted roller

New animals of the day:

Red hartebeest

At the end of a loop road there was a bunch of banded mongooses heading for the shade under a tree. When they got there, they piled up or stretched out in the shade. Morne stopped the car, and when he started it again they all got up and ran to the other side of the tree.

Morne spotted a honey badger curled up on the side of the road. First we thought it was dead because it was so still and was right next to the road. Then it started throwing dust onto itself, making Morne think something was wrong with it. After a few minutes it stood up and walked inland.

At about 4:15 we had to decide if we would take the alternate road to a few waterholes or take the main road directly to the rest camp. Morne decided on the latter because we needed to arrive before 5:30 and the alternate road would have taken too long. After twenty minutes we saw a couple cars parked near a tree that is known to often have a lion under it. Sure enough, he was there lying on the ground. From the road, he looked like a rock, 

and the telephoto or binoculars were needed to determine that it was a lion. 

When we went to the other side of the tree as we left, we had a clearer view. Even though he was sleeping and not very visible, it was still exciting to see a lion. We were glad Morne had chose that route.

On the way to the rest camp, we came across two black backed jackals 

and a bat eared fox. The fox took off running after a springbok that Morne said he had no hope of catching, but it was fun to watch.

Then a spotted hyena came walking along.

We arrived at Okaukuejo with time to spare, as it was only 5:15. This guesthouse is known for its well-lit waterhole to which many animals come. 

Before dinner I saw two small white rhinos, which was exciting because it was the first time I’d seen rhinos close enough to know that they were rhinos. (I’d seen one way way in the distance in Kenya, and it was a black rhino.)

At 10:30 I returned and immediately saw two big rhinos, one on each side of the waterhole. I was really excited to see them so close and so well. I went back to the room to tell Kate so she could come out if she wanted to; she did. The one on the far side had left when I returned, but then two more came. 

The rhino at the waterhole went to greet them. Morne explained in the morning that it was checking them out to see if it was OK to share the space, as they are territorial; it was. So then there were three rhinos. I stayed until 11:30.

Since I’d seen the rhinos, which was what I was hoping to see at the waterhole because both Rachel and Chris had talked about seeing many rhinos there, I didn’t get up in the middle of the night to go to the waterhole. When I went at 5:30 AM, nothing was happening. A springbok came, and there were giraffes way in the distance. But otherwise it was quiet.