Etosha – Day 1

 Posted by Elizabeth at 6:19 pm
May 062011
 

Black Backed Jackal, Etosha National ParkWe were woken around 4am this morning by hyenas calling. There must have been quite a few of them and close by as it was very loud and went on for some time. We also had a jackal going through someone’s garbage bin during the night making a racquet, as even though Okaukuejo Camp is fenced there are still jackals wandering through the camp.Lion, Etosha National Park

During our morning game drive we saw quite a number of animals including a few black backed jackals, some red hartebeest, gemsbok, a hyena and giraffes in the distance, heaps of springbok, some impala, a few kudu, ostriches and lots of birds. As we were heading back to camp for lunch we came around the corner and there were two male lions sitting very conveniently on the side of the road. One sat there cleaning himself making him look just like a big pussycat, not so sure though that I would want to give him a pat. They sat there for quite some time but eventually a car annoyed them so they took off into the bush.

 

Red Hartebeest, Etosha National ParkSpringbok, Etosha National ParkLion, Etosha National Park

Our afternoon drive was pretty unsuccessful until the last few kilometres when out of the bush came a lioness, then a few minutes later a lion and then another one until there were finally 6 all together. They came out of the bush, walked about 2 metres from our (checked out something on our car which we have no idea what it was they were looking at) and then laid themselves on the road. One of them decided to plonk itself down about a metre from my window, needless to say my window then went up! It was pretty cool and made us late back to camp as they shut the gate at sunset, but they didn’t say anything and we weren’t the only ones who were late.

Impala, Etosha National ParkLion, Etosha National ParkLion, Etosha National Park

After dinner we walked down to the floodlit waterhole at Halali Camp. Talk about perfect timing – when we arrived there were 4 rhinos drinking and eating. 2 of them were having a bit of a tiff with each other on and off. They hung around for ages drinking and eating and again it was an excellent experience. The one annoying thing though was that 2 groups of people decided that silence didn’t apply to them, so they talked incessantly in supposed whispers and kept giggling the whole time. Some people are just so ignorant and rude!

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