Etosha

We left Ongwediva Wednesday morning in a taxi, rented a small car (which we promptly nicknamed "Porridge") in Ondangwa and headed two hours south for our Etosha National Park safari. We soon learned why a 4 wheel drive vehicle is handy! Hopefully we will not have to pay any damage fees on the car. Gravel roads, rocks, mud ... we drove through it all. Despite being told that we might not see any wildlife until dusk, we saw smaller animals such as jackal, warthog and springbok and larger animals such as impala, giraffe, oryx, wildebeest, kudu and zebra all as we were making our way to our first night's lodging at Halali.

Etosha features a huge salt pan, the remnant of an inland lake no longer filled by rivers that have changed course over hundreds of years. Etosha translates as "place of mirages", "land of dry water" or "the great white place". If there has been sufficient rainfall to the north, the pan holds some water. During the dry season, animals are attracted by natural and solar powered, man-made watering holes.

Halali features a small, lighted watering hole. Tourists assemble silently on benches behind a low rock wall as the sun sets, waiting for the show to begin. On our first evening we sat for about 20 minutes with no action as darkness set in. Then, slowly out of the bush, a line of 17 elephants appeared, both adults and youth. They drank and drank and stood and stood. Next, out of the shadows came a lone thirsty black rhino.  All was peaceful.

Thursday we continued to make our way west through the park to Okaukuejo, once again seeing many animals during the daytime hours, including very close up views of two hyenas, a trio of elephants and a large herd of zebras. At one small watering hole we were fortunate to see three female lions laying in the grass, having a lazy morning.

Our second evening was similar to the first, but Okaukuejo has a much larger lighted watering hole. Jackals, oryx, giraffes, zebras, elephants and three black rhinos (including a mother and child) made appearances, group by group.

Friday morning we drove south out of the park towards Windhoek with a stop along the way at the Cheetah Conservation Fund near Otjiwarongo. This is a research center founded by American Dr. Laurie Marker in 1990.  She is a sort of Jane Goodall-figure, but with a focus on cheetah conservation, research and education. You can see orphaned cheetahs close up and learn about the efforts of the Fund via a Cheetah Walk conducted by the staff and at their Visitor and Education Centre. As cheetahs are predators, many have been killed by Namibian farmers trying to protect their goats and sheep - for many their entire economic livelihood. Laurie and her staff focus not only on saving cheetahs and their habitat, but also on working together with local farmers to create a sustainable agricultural system. She breeds and sells Anatolian Shepherd dogs specially trained to protect goats and sheep. Farmers can purchase a trained dog for $1000 Namibian dollars (current exchange rate 8 Namibian dollars to $1 US). The dog then lives among the goats and sheep and protects them from cheetah attacks. We were told there is a one year waiting list for her dogs. Laurie has over 100 staff and is very interested in having interns and volunteers - Bretta I'm thinking it would be perfect for you.

I leave for the airport in about two hours for my return to the U.S. After my return I will add links and pics and one more entry - so check back in a week or so.  Kalapo nawa Namibia.

Giraffes

Elephants In The Evening

Lion

Hyena

Zebra

Our Rental Car "Porridge"