We plan to drive from west to east through Etosha National Park and stay overnight along this route at campsites in the park. This will give us three full days for our first safari without a guide, and the tactic is actually quite simple: Etosha is littered with natural and artificial waterholes, so the animals should show up there at some point – especially in the mornings and evenings – and we will simply “rattle off” as many of them as possible. Whether we can tie thereby probably to the sighting successes of our Guides in Kenya?… AND OB !!!!

The first day has not yet the “very big” highlights to offer, but we groove us first with antelopes, zebras and wildebeests. In addition, we spot a giraffe with child at a waterhole, and watching a giraffe drinking is really an experience. First we carefully check out the surroundings, then we spread our legs, have a final look around and then we get down on our knees and drink. Simply delicious!!!

In the evening, we then spy two lions in the distance and shoot a terrific photo of a single bull elephant in the sunset under a rainbow. Since one may not drive at night alone in the park, we must be at 19:40 back at the camping site, when we arrive however the gate is already closed and we adjust ourselves already to a night in the free one, as then nevertheless an employee – who are here unfortunately often seeeeeeehr sluggish – at the gate comfortably and means we would be over one hour too late, the gates close to the sunset. No idea where this misunderstanding came from, the lady at the reception was namely very clear with their time, but he lets himself broad and lets us into the camp.

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We get up early and drive back to the waterhole where we had spotted the lions, maybe they are still there. Unfortunately they have moved on, but we spot a single hyena and three fighting jackals!!! Until the early afternoon this will remain our most spectacular discovery, then we spot a single lion under a tree which we observe for a while. At some point we turn around and behind us at the waterhole three elephants have appeared! Where did they come from now?  

In the late afternoon we check in at the next campsite and actually want to do a night safari, but the – again very unmotivated  – lady at the reception tells us that this is not possible today. Therefore, we drive on our own through the area again and discover shortly before sunset a rhino in the distance!!! And that’s not all, the illuminated waterhole at the campsite is visited a few hours later – after we have eaten – by 10 rhinos (2 of them young). What a luck, whether we can still top that?

And how! The next morning we run up to the top form, discover first another rhinoceros, then a pack of lions and shortly thereafter a leopard. When we see afterwards still a gigantic elephant family at a water hole, we sighted the “Big 4” in approximately three hours, that is to make us first one:r after!!!

On our last evening at the campground in the very east of the park, a night safari is then available. The totally nice and dedicated – yes there is such a thing here – driver asks the group what we would like to see. While our fellow travelers bake small rolls, Kerstin is the most cheeky and wishes for some cheetahs. While the others are still smiling about so much naivety, our car drives out of the camp, turns twice and stops. The driver shines her headlight to the right and says “cheetahs”! Fifteen meters next to the road in an open area and then the 3 brothers also walk by comfortably in front of our car. While the others are still looking at Kerstin in disbelief, our guide just asks if she should drop us off at camp again

Naturally not, we discover namely still a huge herd of giraffes galloping in front of us and again elephants and rhinos together at a waterhole. At night here is real operation and the red headlights of the car – so that the animals are not disturbed – gives the scenery an almost magical mood.

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The next morning we drive back to the spot where we had spotted the cheetahs, and lo and behold, they are indeed still around – albeit a good distance from the road! We watch them for a while and hope a bit that they might have a taste for one of the antelopes grazing nearby. We’re not that lucky, but it’s still worth the wait. They break off their lurking at some point and move leisurely in the direction of the road – where dozens of cars have gathered in the meantime – and we can observe them at close range. Unfortunately, due to the many cars, the whole thing turns into a little gauntlet for the cheetahs, which would like to cross the road, but are disturbed again and again by inattentive tourists by starting engines or flashing lights. This is probably the downside of allowing people to drive through national parks themselves, but the cheetahs could of course move off the road at any time and would have more free space again.

Well, it’s enough for us then and we say goodbye to the car masses and drive towards the Caprivi Strip to cross the border to Botswana to the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. This will cost us almost two days of driving, but the landscape will reward us!