Namibia – Etosha National Park Birding and Animals

November, 2023

Etosha National Park is located in northwestern Namibia and one of the largest national parks in Africa measuring approximately 21,000 square miles. It was declared a reserve in March 1907 and National Park in 1967.

The name Etosha means “Great White Place” referring to the Etosha pan. The salt pans are the most noticeable geological features in the national park. The main salt pan covers an area of about 1,900 square miles.

The salt pan is usually dry, but fills with water briefly in summer (our Jan-March), when it attracts pelicans, flamingos and many other water birds.

Etosha National Park has a savanna desert climate. The annual average temperature is 24°C (75°F). In winter, the nighttime lows are around 10°C (50°F), while in summer temperatures often hover around 40°C (104°F). Rain almost never falls in the winter. During our visit in November, we enjoyed 44°c daily temperatures. The US conversion temperature was about 111°f. Yes, it was smoking hot…but dry.

The park has about 114 mammal species, 340 bird species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and 1 species of fish.

A rare sighting of a honey badger along the side of the road. You definitely need to give these animals space if you come across them in the wild.

It is also the single-most important custodian of the black rhino in the world. Because this park has many species of dangerous animals, we will remain in the car until we get to our camp for the night.

Waterholes

When we arrived in Etosha, they had not had any rain since March. We were on the cusp of their rains, and we had some spotty rains during our visit. One evening we had a huge thunderstorm but with so much sand, the next morning it didn’t look like it had rained.

The waterholes are so important at this time of the year. Not only does it provide water for the animals, it provides some amazing viewing opportunities for the human visitors.

We spent quite a bit of time at three different main waterholes. We saw everything from nightjars to rhinos to the king of beasts – the male lions. It was fascinating watching how the different species of animals interacted with each other at the waterhole. The hyenas were the most jittery around all of the animals – especially the lions.