Etosha Road Trip

I'm not sure what I can write about Etosha National Park that other blogs and travel sites haven't already written. The place is simply amazing, there's tons of animals, and tons of driving. As part of Mark's celebratory forty-first, we drove north to Etosha for the weekend, stopping outside the park to sleep at Ohange Game lodge, located ninety minutes southeast of the Von Lindquist (east) entrance of the park. We ate outside under the stars and enjoyed sleeping in orange chalets.

Following that, we spent two nights experiencing what Namibian Wildlife Resorts (NWR) were like inside the park. The NWR company has monopoly on all national parks in Namibia, so you don't have much of choice. They aren't my favorite company because they sacrifice customer service in exchange for proximity. 

Our first night was spent at Onkoshi, perched on the edge of the pan with the lodge and chalets built on stilts. Walking on the suspended boardwalk, it was like we were waiting for high tide to come in. Supplied with a single fan for the room, I worried we would all roast and sweat together, as the temperature that day rose to over 90 F. Thankfully, as soon as the sun went down, so did the temperature, well below 40 F. Interestingly, with all of the dust kicked into the air, the sun and moon sets are gorgeous but without lingering moments of romance. They just set and that's it: they are literally done and dusted. 

On the second night, we stayed at Namutoni in a family room that had side by side shower heads in the recessed bathtub. What seemed like a fun idea of taking a family shower (I'm totally joking. I think...) turned sour when one shower head fell off revealing tatters of saran wrap that was stuffed inside the pipe. At least we had air conditioning and a mini fridge to chill the remaining two beers of our trip. 

In between lodge stays, we were on the road, driving from watering hole to watering hole on an obsessed mission to see elephants and cats. A lot of the animal sightings depend on being in the right place at the right time, so Mark and Margo got luck with a leopard sighting after I successfully whined my way to be dropped off at the lodge. Our friends enjoyed teems of lions at one watering hole, and others got to see cheetahs. It was hard not to be jealous, but I did take solace that we finally got to see more elephants than we could handle, some of which we could smell their breath they were so close. In case you were wondering, they smell bad. 

As a last hurrah in Etosha, Mark elected to drive west out of the park which added on two hours of driving. But we were both keen to see the lesser frequented area, and saw basically nothing. It was the kind of nothing that makes one irritated and grumpy after being on the east side and inundated with wildlife. We blew past anything that wasn't feline, thinking that maybe we'd been in Namibia too long when giraffes or oryx were no longer exciting. Then we saw elephants mating in the bushes, so that helped. The kids logically followed up with "how are babies made?" and immediately regretted asking me that question. 

Ohange Lodge

Kudu

Literally surrounded by wild animals and she's reading a book. 

Onkoshi

Onkoshi

Moon set. 

On the edge of the pan at Onkoshi. 

Among the acacia thorns.

We couldn't' figure out if he was truly stuck or just resting his big head.
After 15 minutes, he extricated himself with moderate struggling. 

Watering hole at Namutoni.

Banded meerkcats at Namutoni.

Black rhino sighting early in the morning. 

Greater Kestrel.