Etosha National Park

Saturday 14th April – In Etosha National Park

We awoke early to take the bus on an early morning game drive. This is the best time to view the animals before the heat of the day sends them scurrying for shade and shelter. It did not take long for us to come across huge herds of hundreds of zebras and springboks grazing together. Somehow I had not expected to see zebras in such large numbers and the sight caught me by surprise. I was also amused to hear the zebras loudly making a noise like a cross between a dog and a donkey.

Apart from the zebras we also came across grazing groups of impala, oryx, kudu, wildebeest and giraffes. In fact, the sheer density of life in this place is amazing. Later in the day we climbed back aboard the bus for another game drive. Once again, we were blessed with viewings of an abundance of wildlife. The most dramatic of these was a close and clear sighting of a black rhinoceros drinking at a waterhole. These are among the most dangerous of all the animals in the park and have a reputation for being aggressive and ill tempered, likely to charge at any perceived provocation.

That evening I returned to the waterhole, once again lathered with repellent. This time there were two large elephants drinking, dramatically backlit by an almost continuous display of sheet lightning in the near distance. In the middle of the night when I was sleeping in the tent, I was awakened by crashing thunder, lightning and heavy rain. There was a rush if frantic activity to close all the zippers and waterproof the tent. I called out to Bob for help, but he had switched off his hearing aid and blissfully spelt through the entire exciting episode.

The storm raged for about 20 minutes but served to clear the air of excess humidity and ensured that the next day was cooler and more comfortable than the previous few days.Lue lisää