Wonderful Wild Life

On our way back from our business trip to Oshana in October 2015, Lou announced, "I have a treat for you."  Lou is a very upbeat guy, so one cannot be certain that his idea of a 'treat' will necessarily jibe with one's own.  However, in this case we were very much in sync.  He had decided that rather than stick to the boring old B1 route, which skirts the eastern edge of Etosha National Park, we would cut right through the middle of this monument to wildlife conservation.  Woo hoo.

It probably added another three or four hours to the very long drive back to Swakopmund, and Lou had been doing many hours of driving each day for at least the previous three days.  So that's a pretty generous offer.  But he likes elephants, too.

Etosha provides a free-range home for a wide variety of animals native to the Namibian savannah.  The park includes a few artificial or constructed watering holes, and it is fenced.  Otherwise I do not know how much management of the animals they do.  They last saw a buffalo there in the 1950s, and it was dead (per Wikipedia).  There have been several rhino relocated there, and the black rhino especially seem to be doing quite well.  They have lots of antelope, zebra, lions, elephants, blue gnus, giraffes, jackals and hyenas and you're likely to see most or all of those if you visit in dry season.  We did not see lions this trip, but I saw many when I visited in November 2013.  There are leopards and cheetah in the park, but they tend to be shy and sightings are rare.  Plenty of birds, including ostrich.

It is also the location of a large salt pan, or dried-up lake bed.  If you're good with a camera, it can make for dramatic pictures, and if you're into stark scenery, it's pretty much just what you want.  I'm glad to know it's there, but feel little need to look at it.  It is, however, the source of the park's name -- 'etosha' means 'large white place,' and the salt pan is both large and gleamingly white.

I'd rather look at animals -- Lou and I photographed them, and there are 43 photos in this album.

Zebras and blue gnus, also called wildebeests

Probably a young one as its spots are still quite pale.

Male ostrich are black; females are grey.

Female kudu.  The males have fantastic horns.

Blue gnu cantering.  They are just weighted wrong for the most efficient cantering.

Springbok seeking shade; zebra refraining from mingling.

I do not know if there's a fancy collective noun for a herd of ostrich.

Part of a herd of about fifty

Everyone loves baby pictures, right?

Another shady spot for springbok