Ver are zie LIONS??!??

Mike and I were on a high after leaving our cheetah friends at Okonjima but knew that Etosha NP in the north of Namibia was going to be a real treat. Covering an area of 20,000 sq kms, Etosha ranks as one of the world’s greatest wildlife viewing venues. It’s name, which means ‘Great White Place of Dry Water’, is taken from the vast white Etosha Pan, an immense, flat, saline desert covering 5,000 sq kms, that for very brief periods of the year turns into a giant green lake.

 However it’s the surrounding bush and grasslands that provide habitat for Etosha’s diverse wildlife.

We stayed in the Halali Rest Camp on our first night, which is in the central part of the park.  After setting up camp and having some dinner, we headed down to the waterhole for a sunset drink and to see what activity might develop.  We were treated to the most awkward mating show we had ever seen that night – two rhinos attempted numerous times to mate, but their size, weight and general awkwardness meant the male kept missing his mark!  

Excited for our 1^st day of self-driving safari, we were up at the crack of dawn and ready for the ultimate in game viewing. We agreed to do the central and northern part of the park on our first day and concentrate on the south and western parts on day two.  Armed with a flask of hot tea and a hot water bottle, we set out for what we imagined to be our greatest animal sightings ever.

We were sadly disappointed – we spent over 7 hours driving through the park and saw very little compared to the expectations we had built from all the stories we had heard about Etosha.  Although we enjoyed stopping at several watering holes to view ‘common game’ as we now refer to impalas, zebras and wildebeasts in our spoilt manner, we couldn’t help but ask ‘where are the lions?’  Except we said it with a German accent as a joke – our guide in Kruger had told us a nightmare story of a group of German tourists who didn’t care about any animals except lions – when shown something fantastic like a rhino they would say “fine, fine … but ver are zie LIONS!?!?” – so it has become a bit of a reminder for us to continue to appreciate all the animals we see.

Somewhat dejected after our first day, we moved to Okaukuejo Rest Camp in the southern part of the park for our remaining two nights as we understood the watering hole brought lots of day and night time activity. What a great choice. At 3pm we settled in and watched in amazement as waterhole visitors came and went. 

On day 2 we rose with fresh optimism that today would be our day with the predators. On the back of a tip that a pride of lions had been seen in the western quarter of the park, we decided on an early start and to head west to the Okondeka watering hole. What a bet it was! As soon as we arrived we came upon a pride of lions hanging out by the watering hole. One male, at least 4 lionesses and 8-9 cubs. I couldn’t contain my delight! The male rose and wandered off, probably for a day of hunting and to get away from the 4 females!!

After about an hour watching the lions lie around, we headed west and did a large loop bringing us back to our rest camp.  After a quick lunch, we headed back to Okondeja to see if things had picked up.  On our return, we were in for a treat – the entire pride walked down from a nearby hilltop – literally meters from our car – stopping to chill out in the middle of the road mid way.

This was true paradise. The lions then drank and played within meters of our car, with the most beautiful African backdrop of other animals further out in the pan.   After almost an hour of watching this, the pride followed the matron past us again and then meandered down the road, where we said ‘see you next time!!’

It was truly a day to remember and Etosha surpassed all of our expectations. We'll have a difficult time topping this!