A COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BEST OF ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Last Updated on 25th June 2024 by Bejal

Located in the northern pocket of Namibia, Etosha is considered to be the best National park in the whole of Southern Africa and is a wildlife lover’s dream. It’s remote, 22,270 km² or 8,598 square miles and centres itself on the Etosha pan. The Etosha Pan is a huge stretch of salt with lone salt springs and is used by wildlife as salt licks. It can even be seen from space. This guide on the best of Etosha national Park, will give you a great insight into planning a trip here, places to stay as well as great tips to ensure you maximise your time in the area. The aim is to see as much wildlife as possible in this incredible park and being informed of the dos and don’ts of the area. It’s a destination like no other.

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Why Visit Etosha National Park?

Etosha is noted as being one of the best wildlife spotting areas in Southern Africa. One of the best things about Etosha National Park is that it’s a place where you have a high chance of spotting four of The Big Five, You won’t see water buffalo you won’t see but it’s very common to spot elephants, lions, leopards and rhino.

The park is enormous and is set in a desert. which is an ancient evaporated lake which became arid millions of years ago. It’ll become apparent quite quickly that the landscape in and and around Etosha can only be described as barren. The land is scattered with many thorny shrubs, a few salt pans and mud flats.

The low foliage at Etosha means the animals can’t camouflage themselves as much and the watering holes can make for a great concentrated area to spot wildlife too.

The top reason to visit Etosha National Park is for the diverse concentration of wildlife in the space and the fact that it’s. a huge barron but also moon-like landscape. This is what makes Etosha so very different to other game reserves in Southern Africa. It’s not necessarity what you’d refer to as lush!

If you love camping, then Etosha National park is a great location as camp sites are fenced off within the park boundaries and they’re a good place to be located to spot the incredible wildlife which is within a few metres away from you. The lack of light pollution also means that star gazing is a treat.

Fun Fact: Did you know that Etosha translates to ‘great white place’ what a fitting name for this Namibian wilderness.

When is the best time to visit Etosha National Park?

Visiting Etosha National Park at the right time is imperative as after all you will want to spot wildlife at their most prevalent. The best time for this would therefore be the cold and dry season.

During the months between May to August, you will undeniably find a lot of animals gathering at many of the 40 plus water holes present in the park.

The hot dry season from August to September is also a great time to visit but opt for game drives that are early morning as the temperatures do rise fast and can become quite unbearable.

Visiting Etosha from September is when the hot and wet season will start and you may get the odd shower which can affect birdwatching but a lot of wildlife can still be spotted around water holes.

One of the best times to visit Etosha is early October (this is when we visited) when there are virtually no crowds, the odd rain shower during the night but early game drives from 8am-12pm are fruitful with an absolute abundance of wildlife spottings.

Be-lavie Tip: High season will often mean that accommodation such as campsites in the park are fully booked as are many of the beautiful lodge locations in close proximity of the park. Make reservations as soon as possible.

How to get to Etosha National Park

Etosha is situated in the north of Namibia, close to the Angolan border with the nearest towns being Grootfontein, Ondangwa and Tsumeb,

If you’re on a Namibia road trip, you’ll be driving from the south, via the town of Outjo, which is about 100 km from the entrance of the park.

Be-lave Tip: Outjo is a great place to fill the 4 x 4 up with fuel and grab snacks and water for your cool box if you’re self-driving.

Arriving in Etosha can depend upon where you’ll arriving from as there are four entrances; King Nehale gate in the North, The Anderson Gate in the South, the von Lindequist Gate in the East and Galton Gate in the western end of the park.

The easiest way to reach Etosha National Park, is by hiring a 4 x 4 vehicle on your arrival at the main airport, Hosea Kutako, situated 40 km from Windhoek, Namibia’s capital.

Between the airport and Etsha National Park, the distance is around 436 km, taking around six hours to drive to arrive at the Anderson’s Gate entrance where you can easily access the Okaukuejo camp. 

Many travellers choose to incorporate Namibia as part of a self-drive road trip so would be arriving from Swakopmunf or Damaraland which would take an hour of two less than coming from the airport of Windhoek directly.

If self-driving is not for you, you can of course take a tour from the capital, either straight to Etosha or to a number of locations.

How Long To Stay in Etosha?

Due to limited time, many people do head to Etosha just for the day. This really is not enough and for a memorable and fulfilling experience (after all you have come all this way), two to three nights at least is recommended. There will be more of a chance to spot wildlife, as well as scope out the landscape with two to three days in the park.

The Best Things to do in Etosha National Park

The three main things to do in Etosha National Park including game drives, experiencing the unique landscape, spotting wildlife (independently) and camping if you are feeling more adventurous.

Game Drives

The park as you can imagine is absolutely packed with wildlife and you can see a lot of it driving down the main track roads and waterholes. You can also appreciate the vastness the land of this national park when doing self-drive game drives.

Be-lavie Tip: Self-drive Safari is not permitted at night

The Unique Landscape

The almost woodland-type landscape is pretty unique and is quite a task to take in. The other unique landscape feature of the salt pans can also be viewed from space. The park is covered in a scattering of trees but more commonly the Mope tree, a tree with bright green leaves that resemble a butterfly.

Wildlife Spotting

At Etosha you can spot not only four of the big five (elephant, lion, rhino, and leopard) but you can also see around 114 mammals, and over 300 bird species as well as 16 amphibians/reptiles and even a type of fish!

Most commonly though, you’ll see elephants as well as sightings of lion, leopard, and rhinoceros. Etosha gives you the chance to spot its 114 other mammals. The most common animals spotted are lions, cheetah, zebras, elephants black rhinos, giraffes, kudus, oryx, hyena, impala, ostrich, springbok and a huge variety of birds. This is where the help of a guide comes in or a very good illustrated book.

Camping in the Park

There are three official campsites situated within the park, Onkoshi Camp (east of the park), Okaukuejo camp (west side of the camp) and Halal camp (in the centre of the park) which are fenced off and have great facilities including swimming pools, cafes where you can grab dinks as well as snacks, toilets, showers and you may even get good phone reception.

As self-driving in the park is not allowed during the night, the camps are able to arrange night game drives. If you are camping, you must have entered your particular camp site by sunset as after this point only park rangers and night drives are allowed to be going on in the rest of the park.

Be-lavie Tip: Night game drives start at around $40-$45 USD per person.

Guided Tours: Etosha National Park

If you prefer not to self-drive and would prefer guided tours of Etosha, check out the handpicked tours below.

Where to Stay in and Around Etosha National Park

The Camps (Good Value)

Namibia Wildlife Resorts has six camps in the area:

• Okaukejo Camp and Halali Camp are the main locations and are probably perfectly placed to take advantage of the park at night. The waterholes are lit and it’s possible to sit and wait behind a hideout area, for the animals to come and quench their thirst
• Olifantsrus Camp is a remote spot for elephant lovers
• Namutoni Camp is a great stopover for those interested in bird watching
• Dolomite Camp is a less touristy yet more romantic feel about it. It’s great if you love sunrises and sunsets. Reservations for Dolomites should be made at Onkoshi Resort.

The Lodges

If staying in Etosha National Park is not for you then there are a number of lodges that are sure to provide a decent nights sleep as well as game drives included in the rates of stay.

Mokuti Lodge (Mid-range)

Located a few minutes from the park’s eastern gate, this lodge has a great variety of cute rooms comprising of all the hotel comforts one would ever require. The decor is modern yet in keeping with the environment and there’s also a very good on-site restaurant and bar serving breakfast lunch and dinner as well as timely snacks. Rooms are pretty high-end and the whole lodge has recently had a refurbishment. Mokuti lodge is part of the O & L Leisure Hotels and Lodges who also own the luxury Strand Hotel in Swakopmund.

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Google Map Location: Mokuti Lodge

Price Range; $250 USD per person per night

Hotel Spotlight: Ongava Lodge (Luxury)

Ongava is a private game reserve located at the Southern edge of Etosha close to the Anderson’s Entrance. 

The Ongava reserve’s accommodation options are the most luxurious but also the most well thought out complex and varieties that you can imagine. This place is definitely on the upper end of the budget scale but the reserve is unique and even has it’s own conservation centre where they concentrate on rhinos, anti poaching as well as other wildlife research. They introduce animals into the reserve to increase numbers but also play a huge role in the welfare of wildlife here. In fact many of the evening or sundowner game drives will be done in the game reserve itself. It has an absolutely incredible number of white rhino as well as the endangered black rhino.

At Ongava (translating to rhino) you can opt to stay in luxury tents at Ongava Tented Camp, Bush Suites at Ongava Lodge as well as three intimate treetop camps at Little Ongava to mention a few options. Additionally they have a whole villa style accommodation for a private family affair at the very exclusive Andersons at Ongava.

Exquisite meals are served up, as well as full board basis options meaning absolutely everything is included in the rates from all meals, an abundance of drinks, delicious South African wines, laundry, game drives in Etosha National Park as well as the reserve. You are assigned a guide on check-in who takes care of all things wildlife and accompanies you on every wildlife encounter including a bush walk to get in close proximity to the white rhino families within the reserve.

Ongava lodge rooms are large with a wrap around balcony, indoor  outdoor showers, large canopy beds and huge double bathrooms. This is utter luxury in the bush yet not obvious and beautifully camouflaged.

There is an outdoor pool to cool off when temperatures rise in the afternoon and all meals are served on the treetop style open lounge-dining room.

Be-lavie Tip: Ongava Lodge has a private viewing hide which is hidden but within a couple of metres of wildlife such as rhino, lions and giraffes, which can be spotted throughout the day, quenching their thirst.

Google Map Location: Ongava Lodge

Price range: $650 USD per person per night.

How Much Does it Cost to Enter Etosha National Park?

If you are self-driving in Etosha National Park, you will have to pay both visitor and vehicle fees.

If you are visiting as part of a group tour or are on a game drive for the lodges, this fee will already have been covered.

It costs around $80 NAD ($4 USD) per person per day to enter and experience Etosha National Park. The vehicle change is $10 NAD ($0.5 USD) per vehicle per day. Just to note the park can only be accessed between sunrise and sunset hours.

Things You Need to Pack For Visiting Etosha National Park

Visiting Etosha is a pretty unique experience and with that comes a whole different way of being prepared.

It’s good to notes that there can be huge variables in temperature, possible cold and crisp in the mornings to very warm and bright from midday. Being prepared for all situations is key for saving memorable experiences.

Related Post: What you Need to Pack for Namibia

There are no shopping facilities at all within the park for obvious reasons, here are few  essential suggestion for your time in Etosha:

• Neutral coloured, clothing, in layers to blend in with the surroundings + Sun protection and hat.
• Toilet-paper, wet wipes (biodegradable preferable)
• Strong insect repellent
• Headlamp (good for camping), binoculars
• Good camera equipment along with a 200-500 mm zoom lens, cleaning kit and good camera bag
• Camping essentails if you are planning to camp such as pots, pans, sleeping bags etc
• Food & water for your stay. The closest towns being Grootfontein, Ondangwa and Tsumeb all have cash machines as well as supermarkets and shops to stock up on food.

Be-lavie Tip: Etosha is humid, dry and warm, stay hydrated to avoid heat stroke. Aim to consume at least five litres of water a day per person.

Related Post : Tips for Capturing Photography in Namibia

Don’t forget to take a great map and guidebooks, the ones below are what we used for our Namibia Roadtrip and are great to help with background research as well as crafting portions of your own itinerary.

Be-lavie Tips for Wildlife Spotting in Etosha National Park

• If you are not planning on doing any guided safaris then its best to spot wildlife with binoculars and use a map of the park . You can hire binoculars at some of the kiosks at the park or even the accommodation where you’re based. Invest in a good book with imahes so you know what you’re looking at – some species can be harder to identify.
• Patience is key when scoping out animals. Be quiet and drive pretty slowly as per the park guidelines.
• A good map will show you where the 40 plus waterholes are located, This is where most animals will congregate. The best place to spot animals are the waterholes as well as under trees. During the hottest part of the day, wildlife may be taking shade under a tree.

Be-lavie Pro Tip: if you see a few cars gathering in one place, that’s your cue to join them. The chances are they will have spotted something…

Safety Tips for Etosha National Park

• Prior to your visit consult the parks guidelines for safety via their website. You are in very close proximity to wildlife which is unpredictable, hungry and regulations have been put in place for everyones safety.
• DO NOT get out of the car and always wait until you arrive in an area where you are allowed to leave your car.
• If camping return back to your camp before sunset. Driving in the dark is very dangerous and is not allowed.
• Drive slowly in the park to keep and not too close to game to cause harm.
• Always carry enough supplies and water with you at all times and ensure you have a full tank of fuel before you enter the park.
• DO NOT interact with animals. This includes no feeding and no petting. These are WILD animals in THEIR natural habitat.

The Best of Etosha National Park Round-Up

Etosha National Park is one of the most unique places in the world, both for its landscape as well as the concentration of wildlife. With around 750 lions roaming free in the park, you are in for a treat and there’s almost a guaranteed sighting. Additionally if you are looking to see four of the big five, you’re in the right place. The park is vast and being prepared in advance is a big must to make the most out of your experience. Hopefully this guide has provided inspiration for visiting Etsosha National Park by means of when to visit, how to get here, what you can see as well as costs and the best spots to stay for different budgets. Etosha is truly a once in a lifetime experience, so enjoy it and make the most of your time here.

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