5:30 am. Ugh.
It’s a long walk to breakfast, but it gives us time to wake up – and breakfast is quick and tasty. No hot-eggs-on-order but the bin eggs are surprisingly edible.
Our room markers are on the same table as yesterday, so we sit outside again this morning. Not ideal as the bugs are still out, but we muddle through with minimal bites. The only wrinkle comes midway through breakfast, when we realize that we don’t have the binoculars – and unlike Dulini, they won’t be provided.
Cue a mad dash back along the very long pathway as I race to pick up the binoculars before we depart on our game drive. I return just as my wife and kids are hopping up into the safari vehicle.
We initially pile in three-to-a-row but our guide, Filloman, says we can spread out. So we’re two to a row instead – just like we were in Dulini. There’s canvas on top of the safari vehicle, and no box containing binoculars and wipes, but there are blankets and Filloman has a cooler filled with ice-cold beverages. So we’re off to a good start.
Our room rate didn’t include a game drive – or more accurately, it included a game drive from Ewald, our Namibia Experience guide. But having done game drives in Dulini we now realize just how important it can be to have a local guide, someone who is plugged into the local network to find animals – either via radio or group text, or simply to stop and chat with other vehicles along the way.
The added game drive was not expensive – perhaps US$50 for each adult, half price for the kids. We wish Namibia Experience had been clear about this from the start, but it’s a minor annoyance in the grand scheme. We had asked a few times about paying extra to book game drives with the lodges and were told not to worry, it could be done on site.
Anyway. Off we go, covering the 10 km between Etosha Safari Lodge and the main gates. The sun is just rising above the horizon as we speed along the fresh, smooth tarmac:
Ewald had warned us that it would be cold this morning, and he was right. The combination of cool desert air and speed means that we are much colder than in Dulini. It isn’t long before the kids are wrapped up in multiple blankets, and my wife and I both don our coats.
We soon reach the main gate.
There’s a brief wait, and then we pull inside right at 7 am.
Just in time for sunrise:
Having already seen so many animals at Dulini – and comparing the price point between Etosha Safari Lodge and Dulini – it’s safe to say that our expectations are low. As in, “maybe we’ll see some zebras” low.
But it’s not long before we started to see wildlife. And not just in ones and twos, either – in large groups.
These are plains zebra, which are distinct from mountain zebra – plains zebras have wider, darker stripes:
Impala aren’t as common here, but there are vast groups of springbok:
The young ones bounce as though they have springs in their feet, just like Tigger. It’s very difficult to photograph as it looks like they are being abducted by aliens:
There are also oryx:
And jackals:
This alone made the game drive for us – here was an animal we hadn’t seen in Dulini! And they’re adorable!
We also spot some kori bustards – the largest flying bird in Africa:
We pass by some roaming giraffe, but our guide doesn’t stop. He has a destination in mind. We know when we saw the number of cars gathered, this is going to be good. And it is.
A male lion on the move:
He looks hungry:
But maybe not that hungry:
We also watch as he calls to some nearby females, and then wanders off in search of a response.
You aren’t allowed off-road in Etosha, so we’re not able to follow. But we’re completely fine with that. We have just seen a male lion on the move – something we did not see in Dulini – and it’s nice to know that the animals have space that is their own, where they won’t be hassled by humans.
There were a large number of vehicles at the more remarkable sightings – six or seven vehicles tracking the lion, for example – but our guide manages to shuffle in amongst the other vehicles without any issues. And again, the animals have their space offroad so we don’t feel like they were unduly constrained or threatened by the number of vehicles.
We carried on, spotting a southern pale chanting goshawk:
Then some northern black korhaans:
They are loud.
More jackals – my, they are beautiful:
We stop briefly at a central camp for a bio break. The facilities are rather nice, actually. And there’s a little shop for postcards, cold drinks, and so on. Plus a turret:
It’s the remains of a German fort built in 1901.
Back into the vehicle again. We manage to spot some elephants, which are relatively rare in the area.
The young female has must on the side of her face – that dark line between her eye and her ears. This signals that she’s ready to mate:
The flowers here are beautiful, and make a fitting frame for photos:
We spot an elderly male giraffe.
The older they are, the darker the pattern.
Then we spot some ground squirrels, standing sentry like meerkats:
The scenery here feels more varied than Sabi Sands:
Plains, and forests, and scrublands all in one.
Another tip is passed along to our driver, and he makes a mad dash (at the max speed limit of 60 kph) to another location where we spot a pride of lionesses on the move:
This really is incredible. Every bit as wonderful as Sabi Sands.
We even spot some baby ostriches:
One last bio break, and then it’s time to head back.
We’ve been in the park for about three and a half hours, though it’ll be closer to five hours in total travel time once we get back to the Lodge.
But Etosha has one final surprise for us – a black rhino:
Our guide motions to a nearby car to pull ahead, because the rhino wants to cross the road and no one wants to be between a rhino and its intended destination.
Sure enough, the rhino crosses the road:
He’s surprisingly spry:
Then he vanishes into the bushes.
Unreal. Completely and utterly unreal.
We drive back to the Lodge, thrilled with what we’ve seen today. We’d expected that nothing could compete with what we’d seen in Dulini, but Etosha was every bit as magnificent. (Though I expect Dulini has it beat in terms of leopards.)
Back to the rooms to freshen up, then off to enjoy a drink before lunch. The internet is working again so I even manage to get a post up. The beer is ice-cold and the view is magnificent:
Lunch arrives. More grilled sandwiches. Very tasty.
Off for a nap. I really struggle to wake up from this one – too much time on the road, and too many early mornings.
Four more nights to go in Namibia. I’d wondered early on whether time would fly, and if I would be okay with it. Time has flown, and I am okay with it – it’s been a fantastic trip, but I’ll be ready to go home when the time comes.
Eventually I regain consciousness. My daughter and I head to the nearby pool and my wife and son spend some time at the Lodge, working on homework.
My daughter and I play a game in which she hangs on to my back and I give her a scenic tour of the pool. “And here we find a light bulb, and here is the skimmer.”
We briefly pretend that the skimmer is sucking us down the drain, and I carry out the rest of the tour without managing to bang my shin on the step – which is what happened yesterday. There’s still no one here, so I toss her across the pool a few times.
Eventually she gets cold and I wrap her up in towels so she can safely bake in the sun while reading her book. We sit in our chairs, and I stare out over Etosha while vaguely attempting to read Slow Horses.
Time passes – as does this brief, beautiful moment together – and then it’s time to go.
I’m grateful to have this blog (and my parallel postings on CruiseCritic), because I never want to forget today. And hopefully – now that I’ve written it down – I won’t. And my family won’t, either.
Back to our rooms, where our laundry arrives soon thereafter. We dropped it off late the previous night, and it came back all neatly washed and folded. I didn’t get a picture of the price list but it’s low enough to be inconsequential, as it has been throughout this trip. Another point in favour of Namibia.
Off for sundowners, and to fight vainly with the internet. Everyone is back now, and the tiny thread of information – just enough to allow for a single post at lunchtime – is now stretched in too many directions to be of any use.
Eventually I just give up and enjoy my beverage, and watch the sun set on the distant wildlife.
Look! A giraffe:
The sun continues along its path, so it’s time for sundowners:
Ewald swings by, and we confirm our plans – off to Onguma the Fort tomorrow morning. The drive will likely take us four to five hours, so we’ve asked he stick to the main roads to the extent possible. We realize it’s unlikely we’ll see much wildlife as a result, though we’re booked in for a game drive on Onguma’s property that evening.
Soon it’s time for dinner. Roast kudu tonight, along with au gratin potatoes:
The staff also hands out Easter treats for the kids, which they deeply appreciate.
Then it’s time to head back to the rooms to pack up – we’re on the move again tomorrow but with a later departure.
I wish we had more time here. We thought Namibia might be a one-and-done type destination, but Etosha in particular has captured our imagination in a way we hadn’t expected.
It feels as though it’s now no longer a question of whether we’ll be back, but of when.