Etosha national park Namibia, Etosha Safari Tour. Etosha Hotels and Lodges

The Etosha Pan: Namibia
different wildlife get together at the waterhole
Picture Gallery

The Ovambo name – Etosha – means ‘place of dry water’ or ‘huge white area’ depending who you ask. Either way it aptly describes the vast shallow salt pan that is parched and cracked for much of the year.

initially, it used to be a lake  of about the size of Holland, but currently glints a silvery bright white from salt crystals in the whole of its full surface. when you stand at its banks and view directly from across its shimmering surface, objects actual or imaged distort in an exciting and interesting mirage, and you are probaly not certain if you are just thinking about that herd of Oryx or whether they are physical. This assumed inert pan, turn out into life with the beginning of rains, which are likely or not to appear between January and March. About a metre (3 feet) of water turns the dusty eviroment into a slushy, algae-rich soup which acts as a magnet for a number of birds, especially the flamingos.

The pink mist that falls upon the warm shallow lake may be made up  of about to a million Flamingos, and they get down to feeding and breeding  the as the go on with life. The spacious vegetated woodland savannah and scrubland also turn out into luxuriant grasses and small yellow flowers, giving the real conditions for the Antelope and Mountain Zebra to reproduce.

Animals found together in bigger numbers and herds of 50 Elephants are not common. In case of great  hurry to reach to a waterhole, Elephants usually walk right down the middle of the road and you would be right enough to recall that they are gigantic creatures than you, and give the the way. Desert existing Oryx  are present in big numbers plus the exciting curly horned Kudu. It is usual to spot out a mixture of four or five types of  various species of animals feeding in an interactive manner including, a nunber of different Antelopes, Mountain Zebra and Wildebeest.

Lions and Hyenas are big competitors for a meal, but however the one that ends up with the ‘Lions share’, must be alert for nimble silver-backed Jackals who move in and take away what they can. Etosha also is nade up of the unique Black Rhino and rarely seen species like black-faced Impala and small Damara Dik Dik.

Etosha has a number of waterholes, part of which are natural, while more are artificially provided from nearby boreholes. During the years of drought these are the only sources of water keeping the animals stiil existing. Dry season game watching (July to September), is very exiciting as a veritable ‘Noah’s Arc’ of numerous species get together to pe patient untill their moment at the waterhole, with Elephants full at the scene.

Climate:

Game is quickly viewed during the  cool dry months from May to September, on the other hand bird watching peaks during the wet season from November to March. Temperatures are from 31°C (88°F) to 13.7°C (57°F).