The Wild Side in Etosha National Park, Namibia, Africa

Posted on by

34


Etosha National Park in Namibia is a great place to see a wide variety of African animals!  As we drove through the park on my G Adventures Overland Truck journey, we were excited to see many Zebra, Wildebeest, Elephant and Springbok grazing across the savannah.  Zebras are so photogenic.   They’re one of my favorite animals!  The Springbok are cute and jump really high!

We camped at Okaukuejo (woman gives birth every year) in Etosha National Park.  The campground is protected with electric fencing.  The following day we packed up and drove a few hours to the East side of the National Park and set up camp at the Namutoni Campground.  We did a game drive on the way to the campground and saw lots of Giraffe!  They’re my other favorite African animal!

My camera is an Olympus PEN and the zoom lens is 40-150 mm.  The animals were quite close, or I wouldn’t have been able to get some good shots!

There was a small swimming pool at our campsite, so a few of us took a quick swim before going on an optional nighttime game drive in a smaller…open air jeep type vehicle.  We dressed warm, but weren’t prepared for how very cold it got!  Our guide had “over the head” blankets with openings for your arms to put on, but even with those we froze!  He had a powerful flashlight that had a red light on it also, and as he swung it from side to side, he could spot the animals’ eyes glowing red.  We were lucky and saw a pride of lions about 30-40 feet off the road!  We stopped and watched them for about 5-10 minutes.  The sense of danger is quite exhilarating!

Lying in my tent later that night, I started getting horrible chills and suddenly felt very ill.  So I ran to the bathroom, where (to be blunt) it came out both ends.  Luckily, I had Cipro (broad spectrum antibiotic) with me and within 24 hours was almost back to normal.

I had been drinking the water in Namibia, because our Tour Director said it was fine to drink and originally thought perhaps it was from that.  But, a couple of others also drank it and were fine.  It just occurred to me that it could have been from the swimming pool, because I dove into the water.

Anyway, Etosha National Park is just one more reason to visit the beautiful country of Namibia!

34 thoughts on “The Wild Side in Etosha National Park, Namibia, Africa”

  2. Great post, wonderful photos. Great to find a kindred spirit too. Africa is addictive and Etosha is a wonderful place. I was there in 2009 and loved it. You know, reading your commenter above, Etosha was the first place I actually saw Lions up-close, but not the first time I “met” them. Was in QE II park in Uganda about 4 years before, 2005 I guess, and was in dumb enough to walk across the park, solo, unarmed, at night (I know, don’t ask) Had a small head toch so just saw the glint of the eyes in the dark, but I heard them make that deep low grunt, plenty. Very stupid, very scary, & will not being doing that again. 🙂 Anyhow, very nice to make your acquaintance. Lovely blog.

    Like

    Reply

  3. Pingback: The Mighty Victoria Falls | Fabulous 50's

  4. Pingback: Sick in Africa and Windhoek, Namibia | Fabulous 50's

  8. Pingback: Etosha Salt Pan, Namibia | Fabulous 50's

  11. Sherry, doesn’t matter where we travel to .. stomach problems comes in the price. Sad, but true. Not fun when it happens, but 24 hours was a quite quick recovery. Love you Zebra photos – think they are such a beautiful animal. Lions …. magnificent animals too. Great to have you back ..

    Like

    Reply

  14. My absolute favourite animal in the world is the Giraffe! I am genuinely jealous now. These are beautiful shots.
    I’m so sorry you were ill but I’m glad you are feeling better now.
    Take care,
    M

    Like

    Reply

  16. Lions! I bet they are nice to see but scary when they roar. I saw one when I went to Singapore Zoo, it was beautiful but when he roared, felt like there was an earthquake. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

I'd love to hear what you have to say