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3 Etosha camps and why they’re all worth a visit

27/9/2012

11 Comments

 
Okaukuejo camp, Etosha National Park, Namibia
Etosha National Park must be one of the best places to see wildlife in the whole of Southern Africa. And to my mind, each of these three camps offers its own rewards.

At Okaukuejo near Anderson Gate, you can sit in the comfort of the camp and look out over a waterhole for excellent sightings of elephant, black rhino, lion and leopard that come to drink. A tetchy encounter between rhino and elephant isn’t unknown, and it’s a great place for keen photographers to park themselves for a few hours, day or night. 
Etosha Pan, Etosha National Park, Namibia
Etosha pan
About six kilometres away from Okaukuejo is Nebrownii waterhole, a busy pitstop on the animal super-highway. On our last trip there, we found a regular Noah’s Ark of different species thronging the open plain around the waterhole: lots of impalas, zebras and wildebeest, giraffes, two grumpy gemsbok, a handful of kudu and a small family of warthog. Sadly, on this occasion, there were no elephants, which always add excitement to a waterhole sighting, particularly when the little ones get bored with drinking and start to play. 
Elephants, Etosha National Park, Namibia
Moringa waterhole, Halali
Halali camp is the piggy in the middle, about halfway between Okaukuejo to the west and Namutoni to the east. Of the three, it’s my favourite because it’s less busy than the other two and has the superb Moringa waterhole for 24-hour viewing from inside the camp.

From your perch on a small hill above the waterhole, you get an amphitheatre view of the game that comes to drink. In the evenings, forktailed drongos use the floodlights as a hunting aid that highlights insects they take on the wing, and pearl-spotted owlets perch nearby on the lookout for a quick snack. Best of all, you’re almost sure to see elephant and black rhino if you visit at sundown and are patient. 
On our last trip, our most exciting encounter at Moringa was when a black rhino came for a peaceful drink around 7pm. Ten minutes later, the tranquility evaporated when a larger and far less chilled rhino entered the arena and chased him off with much stomping and screaming. They’re really not very sociable animals.

People say that if you spend the whole night at Moringa you’re pretty sure to see spotted hyena and leopard too. But although the days were warm in June when we were there, the nights were a little too cold for a marathon stake-out – at least for me. 
Fort Namutoni, Etosha National Park, Namibia
Namutoni fort
Namutoni camp in the east near Von Linquist Gate has a Beau Geste-style fort built by the Germans as a defence against the Owambos in the early 1900s. It’s intriguing to catch up on the history of the area in the small museum opposite reception.

In my view Namutoni’s campsite isn’t as pleasant as Halali’s, mainly because it’s a lot smaller. When we came back from a drive one afternoon, we found our campsite hemmed in by two Overland trucks with their multiple mounds of identical little tents and foreigners. Luckily, they were fairly quiet, except the next morning when one of the trucks hooted at 04:30 to wake and muster his ‘troops’ for the next stage of their whistle-stop tour of Namibia.  
Rhino, Etosha National Park, Namibia
Hook-lipped rhino at Klein Namutoni waterhole
The waterholes around Namutoni are excellent. We saw lions at Kalkheuwel, black rhino at Klein Namutoni, leopard at Koinachas, elephant at Tsumcor, and two dozen giraffe loping across the veld to Two Palms for sundowners in the late afternoon.

Because I love watching breeding herds of elephant so much, I was getting anxious when we’d been in the park for just over a week and still hadn’t spotted more than a few lone bulls or small bachelor groups. Then on our second last day we found a breeding herd peacefully drinking at Groot Okevi waterhole a few kilometers north of Namutoni.
ELephants, Etosha National Park, Namibia
As we watched, more ellies arrived until there were nearly forty drinking together. Some of them were still quite small, but at least six-months old because they had already mastered that tricky little trunk well enough to suck up water. Bored, a cocky teenager asserted himself to push another away from the water, trunk pushing hard against the other’s butt.

Then they all melted into the bush again, leaving as quietly as they had arrived. We were left listening to the Namaqua sandgrouse flying in and away, their liquid call as soulful as any you can hope to hear in the bush.

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Why you should visit these three camps at Etosha National Park, Namibia #africa #safari #travel
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​Okaukuejo camp: see elephants on an Etosha safari
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
11 Comments
ben down
1/10/2012 06:38:59 am

thanks roxanne for the article. I cant travel at presernt so your article allowed me have a virtual travel and it brought back happy memories.

Reply
Roxanne
1/10/2012 06:54:02 am

Always glad to help, Ben!

Reply
Sue Armstrong
1/10/2012 06:41:23 am

I loved your article. I have put going to Etosha on my bucket list.
Sue

Reply
Roxanne
1/10/2012 06:54:55 am

Thanks, Sue. You won't regret your visit, I promise.

Reply
Janice Hunt
3/10/2012 03:35:05 am

Hey Roxanne! Another inspiring article that makes vicarious travelling such fun. Kgalagadi has to be off my list until a 4X4 comes my way, but is it possible to get the best out of Etosha with a non-4X4? Thanks again for your generous and delightful sharing.

Reply
Roxanne
3/10/2012 04:02:07 am

Absolutely! The road all the way to the park is good quality tar. Inside the park, it's gravel but way way better than the Kgalagadi's. There's a lot of limestone in the soil in Etosha, which tends to make the gravel roads hard, so no chance of getting stuck there. Sometimes after heavy rains, there are washaways and some rough patches, but nothing that a 2x4 can't handle if you go slowly. Any washaways usually get fixed pretty quickly on the main route from Okaukuejo to Namutoni. If you go in summer when the grass is long, you may struggle to see over it from a low car in places, but visiting from July to Sept/Oct should avoid that problem.

Reply
Roxanne
4/10/2012 11:21:05 am

Reader Robert suggests you can try http://www.etoshanationalpark.org/ for info about Etosha if you have trouble getting through to Namibia Wildlife Resorts.

Reply
Brendan van Son link
30/4/2013 02:43:31 am

Wow, this looks incredible. I really can't wait! I wonder, is it expensive to rent a car? Would I need a 4x4 or would a regular car do in Etosha?

Reply
Roxanne
30/4/2013 10:24:05 am

It is incredible -- my favourite big game park in southern Africa. The roads are gravel but there's limestone in the soil, which makes the gravel hard. Sometimes after heavy rains, there are washaways and some rough patches, but nothing that a 2x4 can't handle if you go slowly. It's dry season now so not too much of a problem.
I've never hired a car in Namibia so I don't know the rates; all I know if that when we talked about it once a few years ago, the rates were a lot more reasonable than in South Africa. Try tweeting @NamibiaHorizons and see if they can help.

Reply
Debbie
7/3/2018 04:01:43 pm

Hi Roxanne,
Thanks so much for sharing your travels and especially your knowledge. We are leaving for a trip next week and have included Etosha (always been on my bucket list). After reading your blogs, I am now more excited than ever and soooo looking forward to it !

Reply
Roxanne
7/3/2018 06:17:17 pm

Ah, Debbie, you're going to love it. I'm so envious. Thanks for the supportive comments too. It's always good to know something I've written has been helpful.

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    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    Since 2015, travel buddy and husband Keith has been the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
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