Monday, May 14, 2018 | Namibia – Oshikoto Region, Namutoni | Petra
ETOSHA – ANIMAL‘S PARADISE
FASCINATING WORLD OF ANIMALS
At our visit at Etosha National Park we get a very special experience of nature. The variety of the world of animals in this big national park in the North of Namibia spreading over an area of 22.275 square kilometres is amazing. An unimaginable number of zebras, gemsboks, springboks, kudus, impalas, little Damara dik-diks and blue wildebeests comes across our way. We watch big herds of elephants at the waterhole and single elephant bulls scouring alone. Some other exciting wild animal makes itself scare and we only can spot it by keeping our eyes open wide.
LITTLE WOLF
As soon as the day broke these fluffy guys of blackbacked jackals are already busy.
TREAT FOR THE EYES
There is natural beauty wherever you set your eyes. Now you can clearly see and feel autumn in Namibia. The leaves of the trees and the high grass get dry. The lushly green after the rainy season shifts to a golden yellow day by day. The morning air is cooler than usually and we can smell autumn. The postcard-like blue of the sky now appears less bright and more pale. Where there has been a smaller waterhole two weeks before there now the ground is dry and dusty. The animals have to take on longer ways for water again.
GENTLE GIANTS
In the late afternoon big herds of elephants move straight to the waterhole. They have a refreshing drink there and take a delightful family bath. The little ones dabble joyfully, dive deeply and splash happily with their little trunks on the surface of the water. Half an hour later it‘s done and the herds trot off.
The giraffes stand right beside and watch the action from above. They wait until calm has returned and then treat themselves to a hearty drink of water.
We could watch little mischief playing in the water for hours. So cute! He didn’t even notice that the others had already moved on.
Quite a few elephant bulls roam the scenery alone or walk along the road with no rush. His visits at the waterhole are less playful and appear quite unexcited.
THAT WILL CAUSE TROUBLE
Sometimes it’s not easy at the waterhole for the black rhino. The elephants blow it off with loud trumpeting. To quench it’s thirst the rhino is only allowed after the big pachyderms left for heading home.
LONESOME LIONESS
With great clam the lioness walks across the plain to get to the waterhole. She seems to be thirsty only, because for the moment she shows no interest in springboks and gemsboks around. Instead she chances her luck in a turtle and decides it’s way to hard. After that she takes a long drink and it takes a long, long, long, very long time.
FANCY STRIPES
You can find plenty of Burchell’s Zebras at Etosha, and they mostly appear in big herds. They obviously love to cuddle with their fellow species. If they have trouble with each other, they are not shy to fight rudely.
In one herd we can spot the “black sheep of the family”. The stripe-free, black young obviously has a pigment disorder.
ENJOY YOUR MEAL
We just missed the hunt for the springbok, now we only can watch the three cheetahs having lunch. The moment they barely have had enough they exhaustedly sink to the grass and can no longer be recognised.
LONG NECK AND LONG LEGS
They can be recognized from afar by their long necks, which protrude from the landscape like crooked telephone poles. With graceful movements, the giraffes stride through the area, nibbling the leaves from the very top of the bushes and trees. They observe their surroundings closely and know what is going on around them.
Hi Petra and Win
we crossed paths in Etosha a few weeks ago (looking at 2 magnificent elephants at a waterhole). Like so many, I wrote down the baseline of the truck and looked up your website on the internet. Thank you for sharing your wonderful journey with us, we will be following you guys. We found Etosha a marvelous place, enjoying so many animals roaming freely.
Keep on enjoying the dream!
All the best from
Inge & ilse (Belgium)
Hi Ilse and Inge,
What a nice surprise, thank you very much for your lovely message. We’re happy to have you on bord travelling with us, thank you. Yes, Etosha was exciting and we also enjoyed it very much. We wish you all the best and hope very much to keep in touch.
Enjoy your life,
Win & Petra