Etosha National Park is Namibia's premier destination for safaris and one of Africa's most unique national parks. Nowhere else in Africa can so many different species be photographed around the same waterholes. Anyone who travels to Namibia should spend some time on safari in Etosha.
Need Advice?Etosha National Park provides a unique safari adventure in the northern part of Namibia. A place like no other on the sub-continent is explored on safari packages that visit this national treasure of Namibia.
Etosha pan is a great white expanse that covers almost 25% of the park. It is the largest salt pan in Africa and one of the unique sites in Southern Africa. It is a Flamingo breeding ground that attracts roughly a million birds during the breeding season.
A large number of waterholes are scattered throughout Etosha. These oases attract animals and birds of varied species in large numbers, especially during the dry season. Each overnight camp has its own water hole that brings exciting game viewing to your doorstep.
It is situated 32km east of the main camp in Etosha National Park. Fairy Tale Forest covers a small area of around one square kilometer. It contains a high concentration of one of the world's most unique tree species - the Fairy Tale Tree, which occurs nowhere other than Namibia.
Etosha National Park is one of the best game reserves in Africa for observing a diverse range of animal and bird life. Game viewing in Etosha is excellent, as wildlife is forced to congregate around the park's water holes for much of the year, and there is little vegetation to obstruct one's view.
The Etosha National Park and adjacent concessions offer a wide range of accommodation options, from national park camps to luxury lodges.
Ongava is one of Namibia's premier lodges set on a hill with sweeping views across the African landscape. It is on a private concession with easy access to the Etosha National Park.
Onguma The Fort overlooks Fischer's Pan and offers luxury accommodation and immersive nature experiences both on its 34 000 hectare concession and in Etosha National Park.
Etosha's main national park camp houses guests in comfortable en suite bungalows under thatch. The camp overlooks a waterhole where exceptional animal sightings are a daily occurrence.
A comfortable camp that provides easy access to Etosha offers accommodation in en-suite bungalows set between Mopane trees. The camp is reasonably priced.
Etosha National Park vacations range from private tours to romantic honeymoon safaris and dedicated game-viewing experiences tailored just for you.
Your transportation in Etosha depends on whether you enjoy a guided overland safari at one of Etosha's rest camps or a luxury fly-in safari at Onguma or Ongava. We use hardy, closed 4x4 vehicles with air conditioning and comfortable interiors for our privately guided overland safaris. Namibia's roads cover long distances in a harsh desert environment, so a well-equipped car is a must.
Should you stay at one of the private game reserves that border the park, you will enjoy game drives in modified open 4x4 vehicles, particularly those that are purposed for game viewing. These vehicles typically have three rows of two or three seats and a canopy to shield against the sun during game drives.
Guests typically fly to Windhoek or Walvis Bay from Cape Town or Johannesburg. Afterward, guests will board a light aircraft charter flight to an airstrip outside the park. Charter flights are usually employed when guests stay in private game reserves bordering the park, like Ongava or Onguma.
On a private overland safari, guests will also fly to Windhoek or Walvis Bay from Johannesburg or Cape Town, then travel by road in a hardy 4x4 vehicle in the company of their African Sky guide. From Windhoek, the trip is around four and a half hours, while Walvis Bay to Etosha is roughly five and a half hours drive.
The best time to visit Etosha is during the dry season – the "winter" months between May and October. Water becomes scarce, so the animals converge around waterholes. The vegetation thins out, even more, allowing for unobstructed, superior game viewing. The pan is often bone dry during this time, and the arid landscape makes for unique photographs. Average maximum temperatures range from 26°C (79°F) to 33°C (91°F), while minimums vary between 8°C (46°F) and 15°C (59°F).
In the summer months between November and April, the average daily temperatures range from 25°C (77°F) to 35°C (95°F), and sweltering days can even push the mercury past 40°C (104°F). The rains transform the park from a dry, dusty white lunar landscape to a green paradise bursting with lush vegetation. Bird populations peak in the summer, with many northern hemisphere birds migrating south to Etosha. The pan gathers water and turns into a shallow lake, attracting wetland birds and flamingos. Many larger mammals, like elephants, will move north towards Namutoni, as this area will have more rainfall than down south at Okaukuejo.
Although the prevalence of mosquitoes in Namibia is very low, malaria is a risk from Okahandja northwards. Therefore, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention recommends anti-malarial prophylactics for visitors to Etosha. Other than that, ensure that your routine vaccinations are up to date. Should you be prone to allergies and irritation, ensure that you pack the appropriate remedial medication, as Etosha can be dusty in the winter.
Crime is not an issue as you will be staying in the wild throes of a national park. Still, ensure that you are discrete with your valuables to avoid petty theft. Do not feed animals under any circumstances - baboons and monkeys become particularly aggressive when they learn to associate people with food. Do not exit your vehicle unless you are in a demarcated area where it is safe to do so or in the company of an armed ranger.
The name Etosha (spelled Etosha in early literature) comes from the Oshindonga word meaning 'Great White Place,' referring to the Etosha pan. The Hai//om called the pan 'Khubus,' which means "totally bare, a white place with lots of dust."
Explorers Charles John Andersson and Francis Galton were the first Europeans to record the existence of the Etosha pan on 29 May 1851. The explorers traveled with Ovambo copper ore traders when they arrived at Omutjamatunda (now known as Namutoni). The Etosha pan was discovered when they traveled north upon leaving Namutoni.
Areas north of the Etosha pan were inhabited by Ovambo people, while various Otjiherero-speaking groups lived immediately outside the current park boundaries. The areas inside the park close to the Etosha pan had Khoisan-speaking people.
The German Reich ordered troops to occupy Okaukuejo, Namutoni, and Sesfontein in 1886 to kill migrating wildlife and stop rinderpest's spread to cattle. A fort was built by the German cavalry in 1889 at the site of the Namutoni spring. On 28 January 1904, 500 men under Nehale Mpingana attacked Imperial Germany's Schutztruppe at Fort Namutoni and destroyed it, driving out the colonial forces and taking over their horses and cattle. The fort was rebuilt, and troops were stationed once again when the area was declared a game reserve in 1907. Lieutenant Adolf Fischer of Fort Namutoni became its first "game warden."
Most visitors to Etosha National Park are quickly struck by the vast amount of wildlife in what initially appears to be quite a harsh, stark environment. Because of the park's arid nature, animals are forced to congregate around the waterholes. The result is a photographer's dream; extraordinary varieties of species captured on film in a single setting.
Though buffaloes have been extinct in the park since the 1950s, the rest of the Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, and rhino – occur throughout. Cheetahs count amongst the rarer sightings available. Etosha is home to both plains zebra and the threatened mountain zebra, which occurs only in the park's western section. A sighting of these two subspecies together is quite remarkable. Such is the case with brown hyenas and spotted hyenas as well.
For avid birders, summer is the ideal period to visit Etosha. Though game viewing is generally considered better in the dry season, the summer rains render the vast pans into seasonal lakes and attract migratory and wetland species. Etosha hosts around 340 bird species, about a third of which are migratory. The avian residents of the park make up an eclectic mix that ranges from flamingos to the colorful lilac-breasted roller and some 35 raptor species.
Fisher's Pan is a birding hotspot. Flamingos and storks occupy the shallow waters when the rains gather in the Pan. African open-bill and great crested and black-necked grebe also occur. After substantial rain, the 5 000 km² Etosha Pan fills with water and attracts a blushing cloud of Flamingo. The best time to observe them is during January and February when water is present in the Pan, and they arrive to breed in their thousands.
The salt pans are the most noticeable geological features in the Etosha National Park. The main depression covers an area of about 5,000 square kilometers (1,900 sq mi) and is roughly 130 km (81 mi) long and as wide as 50 km (31 mi) in places. The hyper-saline conditions of the Pan limit the species that can permanently inhabit the Pan itself; occurrences of extremophile microorganisms are present, which can tolerate the hyper-saline conditions. The salt pan is usually dry but fills with water briefly in the summer when it attracts pelicans and flamingos.
In the dry season, winds blowing across the salt pan pick up saline dust and carry it across the country and the Southern Atlantic. This salt enrichment provides minerals to the soil downwind of the Pan on which some wildlife depends, though the salinity also creates farming challenges.
The Etosha Pan was one of several sites throughout Southern Africa that formed part of the Southern African Regional Science Initiative. Using satellites, aircraft, and ground-based data from sites such as Etosha, partners in this program collected a wide variety of data on aerosols, land cover, and other characteristics of the land and atmosphere to study and understand the interactions between people and the natural environment.
The dolomite hills on the park's southern border near the Andersson entrance gate are called 'Ondundozonananandana,' meaning 'place where young boy herding cattle went never to return. This probably implies a high density of predators like leopards in the hills, giving the mountains its English name of 'Leopard Hills. The Halali area is also home to dolomite hills within the park, with one hill inside the camp and the nearby Twee Koppies.
