What is it like to see lions, elephants, ostriches, giraffes, and rhinos from the front seat of the Jeep we’re driving around the world? We found out at Etosha National Park.
After seeing our first giraffes at Augrabies Falls National Park in South Africa, we couldn’t wait for our Africa overland adventure to bring us to Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. Visitors come from all over the world to self-drive Etosha and see the wild animals there.
We spent four nights in Etosha National Park at three campgrounds: Okaukuejo, Namutoni, and Halali. Every day, we got up before the sun so we could drive around when the animals were most active.
It paid off. Our visit left us completely in awe.
Watch now:
Top tips for visiting Etosha National Park
When to visit. We visited the national park in late May, and it was the perfect time of year, weather-wise. We missed the heat of summer and havoc of rainy season. This was an extremely heavy rainy season in southern Africa. Even during our visit, there was still a little mud on the tracks that gave Dauntless (our Jeep) quite a patina. May is shoulder season, the start of peak season, so it’s definitely a sweet spot.
Book ahead. It is unlikely you’ll get your first choice camping at the last minute. We booked online about a month in advance. Though we did get to stay everywhere we wanted, we had to shift dates around because Okaukuejo in particular was booking up. You can pay entry fees at the gate.
Vet fence. You can bring any food into Etosha. But you cannot leave with uncooked (raw) meat. They will confiscate it. This is to protect Namibian farmers from Foot and Mouth Disease, which can devastate the local economy.
When to game drive. Animals are most active in the cool of the morning and in the late afternoon. Typically by 10:30 a.m., we weren’t really seeing animals anymore. Timing your game drives can mean the difference between having an unforgettable Etosha experience and leaving really disappointed.
Distances are misleading. On the map, distances may not seem far. Technically they aren’t. But it takes a lot longer than you’d expect to get around the park. The day we had to drive from Okaukuejo to Namutoni felt too far. We didn’t have a chance to slow down and look for animals. Okaukuejo to Halali and Halali to Namutoni are good stretches for a day’s drive. Our favorite day was when we had two nights booked at Namutoni. We could really slow down and do the local drives in that area. That ended up being our best day of game-sighting, culminating at Tsumcor waterhole.
If you have any questions at all about Etosha National Park, feel free to leave them in a comment! And don’t miss our video, which gives you a good look at what a self-guided game drive in Etosha is really like.
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In our next video, we close out Namibia with the snap of a hippo’s jaws! We spent several weeks camping along the famous Kavango River, home to hippos and crocs. Caspian is not allowed to get too close to the water!
Thanks for being part of our journey.
-B
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