Wow, Etosha! Grinning Giraffes and intimidating Elephants.
November 30, 2024
Lions—I always thought lions would be the most frightening animal on a safari. Who could have known that they would just lie lazily in corners like pissed-off cats, and we would suddenly be stuck in the middle of a herd of furiously stampeding elephants?
We are on a road trip through Namibia in a rental car. After the Namib Desert in the southern part of the country, the dusty, bumpy roads now take us north to one of the most amazing wildlife areas in the world—Etosha National Park. Here you can drive around to your heart’s content on your own self-drive safari and spend hours peering into the bush or onto salt plains with your camera and binoculars. Spoiler: It's virtually impossible not to see tons of animals unless you have a bucket on your head.
Just getting out of the car is not an option, it's not a zoo out there, it's the African
wilderness. Teeth, talons, claws, hooves. And huge eyes that are suddenly so close that you can count individual eyelashes as your pulse hammers in your ears.
Refuel, refocus, and join in our drive—as we go off on an adventure with the striped, spotted, curious, dangerous, and quirky inhabitants of our beautiful planet.
Not see the forest for giraffes
“Wow, I think there's a giraffe back there!” I shout shortly after we pass through the south gate into Etosha National Park. The washboard roads are unpaved gravel in bad need of a road grader, and they take care of punctures and slipped discs in one fell swoop. You should not and cannot drive fast—but you don't want to, because you want to see something. Animals. I roll down the side window and lean out of the window and fully zoom out my telephoto lens, because there's a giraffe far out there. My husband laughs.
“What are you laughing at?” I ask, contorting even more.
“Did you see the other giraffe?” he asks in a deadpan voice, pointing out the opposite window as he slows to a stop. I almost drop my camera. There, right next to our car, is a huge, friendly-looking, chewing giraffe. So close that I all I see are spots outside the window. Then it gracefully begins to move and cross the road. I don't have time to switch to a wide-angle lens and the elegant creature is simply so big and so close that I can't get it all in one photo. A detail portrait it is! The giraffe then flutters its eyelids and grins. I swear! Then it scurries off into the distance. Wow.
Small springbok and a martial eagle
Our very first day in Etosha National Park surpasses my wildest dreams. A herd of zebra crosses our path like an eternally long row of piano keys and a few wildebeests try to push off each other's horns. Springboks graze in the immediate vicinity of a lion, who must have already had breakfast as she moseys along with that majestic detachment that only cats have. We see oryx that don't have to drink for months because they get enough water from morning dew and leaves, and ostriches standing like graceful ballerinas in the middle of nowhere.
It is only elephants we don't see. What a pity. I would have loved to have seen some of these good-natured, gray giants. Instead, we see a martial eagle the size of a medieval dragon. It sits menacingly in a barren treetop and looks down on us. These birds can grow up to 38 inches long, weigh up to 13 pounds, and have a wingspan up to 8.5 feet. Although it can't fit through our open car window, I quickly roll up the window as the bird of death begins to move its clawed talon.
The best time to visit Etosha National Park is at the end of the dry season, when the bushes and trees have no leaves (making it easier to spot animals) and the park's inhabitants gather at the water holes.
Many tourists only visit the better-known eastern portion of the park—but we had many animal sightings and particularly intense experiences in the western part...
Elephants very close - heartbeat very loud
It's the second morning in Etosha National Park. Still no elephants. Dude, where are they? They are so big how could you miss them?
As we pull up to one of the parking lots at a waterhole, I see something big and gray out of the
corner of my eye. Oh, come on, it's just another rock.
It's not.
It's an elephant! I'm freaking out! We park next to a few other cars, open the window and switch off the engine. The elephant looks at us—and only us—scrutinizingly.
“Oh look, he's even coming closer now!” I whisper excitedly as I focus my camera. What kind of massive immenseness, is that, please? All the elephants in the zoos of my childhood suddenly look like participants in a flea circus. The gray house comes closer and waves its trunk in our direction. Then another step. Now he is less than three meters away. “That's pretty close now,” I chirp.
As it takes the next step, I close the window. Instantly, it is hot as hell in the car. No air conditioning, no wind. Now the elephant is so close that I can see its eye right in front of me. It seems as big as my whole hand. It could just knock us over now. And sometimes elephants do that when the cars don't suit them. I had read that at some point, but suddenly it's totally real. Sweat is running down the back of my neck. The people in the car next to us start their engine. “Should we drive away or not move?” I whisper into the thick, hot air. With grizzly bears, for example, you shouldn't run under any circumstances, because otherwise you signal that you are prey.
“I don't know,” says my husband.
We are completely unprepared for elephants. Andmy biggest worry had been that a lion would jump on the
hood...haha.
After a few threatening moments that feel like hours, the elephant slowly turns away and ambles to the watering hole, where he takes a shower. I would like a shower, too. My heart is still chugging. I am drenched. And this isn't our last elephant encounter.
Ostrich cocktail and “Floor it!”
On our last day in Etosha, we are incredibly lucky to see an ostrich drinking. Ostriches normally do not drink. Like never. They get all the liquid they need from eating leaves and grass. Wow! There are a few funny zebras standing around our ostrich, occasionally getting upset about absolutely nothing and then looking at each other with big question marks in their eyes. We also see a few giraffes again.
As we drive on, six elephant butts appear in the middle of the road in front of us. We stop and let them lumber to the side until they finally shuffle off to the side into the bushes. We have learned something from our encounter the day before: Let them be, give them space. We start driving again—slowly. Now we see some young ones in the group at the side of the road. It's unbelievable how cute something so big can be!
“Look, there are some on the other side of the road too!” I shout. Idyllically, the elephants move along to the left and right until some decide to step back onto the road. Again, in front of us.
A particularly large bull begins to give us a long look and shoos his child into the bush with his trunk.
“Yo! Sarah!” exclaims my husband suddenly, looking worriedly in the rear-view mirror. “There are some behind us now, too.”
We suddenly realize that we are inside a herd of elephants. Right in the middle. How could this have happened? Having researched elephant language and signals last night, I can also clearly see that the big bull, who is now stamping and flapping his ears, is not in a good mood at all. And I remember that elephants can travel up to 40 miles an hour—although not long distances.
“Floor it!”, I shout! And we speed out of the herd angling toward the embankment. My heart is chugging again.
Around midday, we see a lion dozing in the sun, not even blinking as we stop to watch him. “Far too hot to stress yourself, you stupid humans,” he seemed to say.
Not lions but elephants were the most worrysome critters here. Who would have thought.
Our time in Etosha was incredible. Learned so much. Gained so much respect, viewed so much beauty and wished so much freedom for all the animals threatened by poaching (unfortunately, however, illegal hunting still goes on even in the national park).
An experience that I will not only remember in photos, but also in all the wild feelings we encountered in this park.
If you like, you can follow our stories, travels and thoughts (almost) daily on Instagram: @squirrel.sarah.
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