Discovering the joys of camping in Namibia (page 21 of 30)

I didn’t make it to Spitzkoppe—your amazing photos let me discover the place. I really love the ones of the sunrise and sunset.

Well, there’s always next time! 🙂

We climbed up to the viewpoint for the sunset—it was stunning!

Absolutely, the view is gorgeous—don’t miss going there! 😉

We stopped for the night at Hotbatère Lodge but didn’t do a Game Drive. Still, we saw lions from the lodge terrace, among other things.

Wow! The lions come right up to the lodge—no need for a Drive in that case! 😛

Another great memory was at Okaukuejo, spending the night near the waterhole.

That’s for tomorrow... 😎

Monday, August 12: Etosha Olifantrus / Okaukuejo

Today, we have the longest stretch of road in Etosha ahead of us, as our destination for the evening is Okaukuejo camp, over 120 km away. We set off before 8 a.m. and stopped by the Hide, but only a few springboks were around—we’re already being picky...

Our goal is to visit the 7 waterholes along the 70 km straight road leading to Ozonjuitji m’Bari.

At Tobieroen, there are no animals at the waterhole, but two elands move away.

A kilometer further on, a lioness walks alongside the road, then crosses in front of us before heading into the bushes.









At the same moment, we hear growls behind us. We reverse and spot a male just as he disappears into the thicket. We hear at least two more nearby but don’t see them 🙁.



We head back to where the lioness entered the bushes and see her a little further on, perched on a mound, seemingly waiting for the others. We wait a good while too, but no other lions join her. Oh well, we’re already thrilled to have seen her so early in the morning 🙂.





The next three waterholes are natural ones, but unfortunately, they’re completely dry.

At Sonderkop, there’s hardly any water, but when we arrive, a lioness is drinking.









Groups of animals keep their distance, but once she leaves the waterhole, they approach to drink: zebras, springboks, and a large herd of red hartebeest.

Even though we’re shooting into the light, it’s truly stunning. Another beautiful wildlife scene—one I’d dreamed of seeing: a lion and its prey at the same waterhole.



A giraffe calmly passes in front of us as we hit the road again.

Here we are at Ozonjuitji m’Bari—a name that’s a mouthful, so we’ll just call it M’Bari. When we arrive, we witness another incredible scene: a lioness shows up while another is already drinking. She hides and pounces on her as she gets closer. They play around a bit under the amused gaze of the oryxes before parting ways and heading off in different directions.















It’s stunning—wildebeests come to drink, clearly uneasy with the two lionesses nearby. Then they leave, and all the animals go back to their routines: wildebeests, springboks, oryxes, ostriches, and even a giraffe all together. We spend a little over an hour watching this amazing show, absolutely thrilled .

The landscape at Etosha is pretty monotonous—flat, all gray, and completely dry, just like the next waterholes.



We arrive at Okaukuejo at 12:30 PM and take our spot—we’ve got number 6. It’s not exactly great, right next to the restrooms and surrounded by clusters of tents from tour operators. We’ll see how it goes tonight, but it promises to be busy 🙁.







We take advantage of the hottest part of the day—it’s still 34°C today—to prepare dinner and shower. There’s not a shred of shade to relax in at the campsites, so we head to the waterhole, but there’s not much water and no animals in sight. The lodges with terraces and views of the hide are really tempting. I think we’re starting to get a little tired of camping.





It’s 2:30 PM, and we’re already back on the road to see the animals—it’s what we love. Heading toward Okondeka, just before we get there, several vehicles are pulled over by the side of the road. In the distance, under the trees, a few lions are lying down, but they’re far away and don’t seem inclined to move.



We decide not to wait for them to deign to get up and continue on our way. We head to the waterhole by the pan. A thin trickle of water flows, with a few oryx and ostriches in the distance. The landscape has a certain charm with that vast white expanse in the background.







A single "Eva Green" tree in the middle of a desert expanse—I look at it and think that if there’s a leopard, it’d be there… We drive past, and then: “Stop, I saw a tail!” Well, you won’t believe it, but there really was a little feline: an African wild cat. We try to take a photo, but it’s behind the branches, so it kindly climbs down from the tree to pose before going back to nap at the foot of a bush.











Anyway, we leave it to finish its nap in peace and head toward M’Bari.

By the side of the road, a group of squirrels.





Quite a few trees with bird nests—sometimes huge or even several on the same tree.

wow, amazing, I love the backlit photos 😎 One of the lionesses, the one leaving the watering hole, must have cubs—her teats are swollen 😮 In one of the photos, apart from the clearly visible lioness, there are at least 3 others lying in ambush… didn’t anything happen? How lucky to see elands, one of my favorite antelopes!

As we passed the dry lake, about ten giraffes.





It wasn’t even 4:30 PM when we found ourselves back at M’Bari. Nothing like this morning—just a few ostriches, springboks, and a giraffe. Plus, we had the sun in our faces, and there wasn’t a single car around. It was super peaceful. A few birds (Kori Bustard and Northern Black Korhaan, thanks Anne Marie 🙂) passed by, and two zebras were cuddling. We stayed for a good fifteen minutes before leaving.















On the way back, a few zebra crossings.



We still had a little time to make a detour to Okondeka to see if the lions were still there. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, they had already left, so we settled for photographing the remains they left behind.





We arrived just in time to see the sunset at the waterhole, where giraffes were reflected in the water.





After dinner, we went to the waterhole: an elephant, a rhinoceros, and a giraffe were drinking. We were about to leave, leaving the elephant alone, when one, two, three—up to six rhinoceroses appeared. We were over the moon.









Another amazing day full of encounters 😎.

To be continued here

Wow, amazing, I love the backlit photos 😎 One of the lionesses, the one leaving the watering hole, must have cubs—her teats are swollen 😮 In one of the photos, apart from the clearly visible lioness, there are at least 3 others lying in ambush… didn’t anything happen? What luck to see elands, one of my favorite antelopes!

Yes, exactly, that’s what we thought too—the cubs couldn’t have been far away. We waited for quite a while, but nothing else happened 😕

Amazing memories, thanks! 😊 I stayed in bungalow no. 33 at Okaukuejo. Great job spotting the AWC (African Wild Cat) – African wildcat ;)

Yes, Kori Bustard then Northern Black Korhaan, White-quilled Bustard Grey Heron Those are Black Rhinos, I think. Super cool! 😏

Well, now you’ve had your lion encounter, and spotting a wild cat—that’s absolutely amazing! 😉

Yes, Kori Bustard, Kori Bustard then Northern black Korhaan, White-quilled Bustard Grey Heron Those are Black Rhinos, I think…. Super 😏

Thanks for the bird names, I knew I could count on you 🙂. For the rhinos, I’m not sure... at night, you can’t see very well. Michel might be able to tell us 😉.

Well, now you’ve been served a lion, and spotting a wild cat like that is just amazing 😉

Yeah, we were so happy... even if it wasn’t a leopard like I’d hoped .

Honestly, the African wildcat is way rarer than a leopard, but it’s not as majestic. When you see one, you think, "Meh, just a cat." But spotting one is still pretty special! 🙂

Hi Isabelle, I see you're making up for lost time with the lions...😉 You had some amazing and frequent encounters in Etosha.... We weren’t as lucky with the lions..... Looking forward to reading the rest of your travel journal to hear about your other surprises...

Honestly, the African wild cat is much rarer than a leopard, but it’s not as majestic. When you see one, you think, "Meh, it’s just a cat." But it’s actually amazing to spot one! 🙂

Absolutely! Yesterday, I sent the photo of the cat to my family, saying I’d found my old cat (the one I had as a kid), and my sister replied, "Yeah, it does look like him, but it’s a bit bigger!" Shows you— the African Wild Cat really does look like a big domestic cat. 😏.

In my opinion, there probably aren’t too many leopards in Etosha...😕 You’d have better luck in the Masai Mara, it seems 😉

Hi Isabelle, I see you're making up for lost time with the lions...😉 You had some amazing and numerous encounters in Etosha.... We weren’t as lucky with the lions..... Looking forward to seeing the rest of your travel journal to hear about your other surprises...

Ah! Right, Jean Luc, you who sees lions everywhere... turns out, they waited for us to pass . Unfortunately, the next two days weren’t very exciting 🙁.

In my opinion, there probably aren't many leopards in Etosha...😕 You'd have better luck in the Masai Mara, it seems 😉

Yeah, yeah... it's gonna be awesome 😎. Plus, there'll be servals, cheetahs, and of course lions 😏. That's it, Régis—I didn’t forget any felines, right? 😇

We saw them several times in Etosha, but rarely in good conditions: too far away, too hidden in the vegetation, too sleepy, etc. 😕 But... more to come in my travel journal... 😎

We saw them several times in Etosha, but rarely in good conditions: too far, too hidden in the vegetation, too sleepy, .....😕 But..... more in my travel journal.....😎

So cool... so it's coming soon? I'll pass the baton to you because mine is almost over 😛.