The next morning we woke fairly early, and I climbed down and made breakfast. I’m only talking bowl of cereal and fruit – having only to heat water for the late sleeper’s cup of morning tea. Campers all around were bustling with activity, packing up, washing dishes, and fixing breakfast. The gates would open very soon and animals are active in the morning and late afternoon. We decided the night before that we would travel to the northeastern side of the park towards the campsite named Namutoni. The 3 camps of Etosha National Park are ideally placed 70km’s from each other, with Halali pretty much square in the center of the public area of the park. Off we went on our first day in Etosha, feeling quite excited, but determined to see a lion. You see, while we were in Moremi, we talked to several tourists who already visited Etosha, and they spoke glowingly of the park, how easy it is to get around, the nice camps, and the multitudes of animals. And they all saw lions! So, we were pumped to drive around all day, making plans to stop and eat lunch midday when the day and sun were at their hottest. We figured that would be near or in Namutoni, and as it turned out we were right. We stopped at several waterholes that are on the way to Namutoni, seeing animals there and dispersed along the plains. It was a hot midday sun that hovered over us as we reached the northern most camp. We parked in the shade and walked to where there were picnic benches inside the courtyard where a few restaurants, stores, and shops were. Radhika made sandwiches and I went to the bar that was open and bought 2 ice-cold refreshing beers. A band of 6 or 7 mongoose’s scurried along the grounds exploring, bickering, and eating tidbits found along the way as we ate our lunch. Most everyone was watching them, with one young girl following them around with a camera.
We left Namutoni around 2:30, leaving us 3 ½ hours before the gates would close at Halali. Our first stop was a Chudop waterhole. The day before 8 lions were sighted there, but none showed during our stop today. We did get great enjoyment out of watching giraffes drink and two males in particular, who were engaged in what appeared to be activity geared to establishing status within the herd. They would swing their long heads in a low arc, and then bring them up with considerable force, turning their heads slightly so their stubby horns would lead to impact. Over, and over and over this was repeated, as they stood side-by-side, walking a little, adjusting their positioning with slight foot (hoof) work. It was very interesting to watch. Also of interest was each species reaction of the others when approaching the waterhole. Which are skittish, which ones are ignored, which ones give ground. Some are pretty much universal, like giraffes being very nervous of other species even with their size advantage over most, no doubt due to their vulnerability when their heads are down drinking. It seems like there’s a 3 minutes period before each 10-second drink, as they are very cautious when they lower their heads. When there’s a larger group, the giraffes do have a slightly stronger sense of calm about them. Ungulates are pretty careful all the time, as well. Elephants seem to be the only ones observed that basically lumber up without much concern, and do as they please. If other animals are near or in the water, they all make way for the elephant. It was surprising to me, because they weren’t aggressive. Perhaps size matters at the waterhole! One night we witnessed a mid-sized elephant try to run off what appeared to be a full-sized rhino by fake-charging – breaking into a slow trot in the direction of the rhino, kicking up dust when it came to an abrupt stop halfway to it. The rhino took note, even took a step back on the elephants 3rd or 4th charge. But on what turned out to be the elephant’s last gesture at making the rhino leave, the rhino actually reciprocated and did a mock charge of it’s own, with equal or elevated gusto to the elephant’s, which caused the elephant to back down and return to the group of mostly larger elephants. Maybe this elephant had a Napoleon complex? The rhino was left alone to share the water with the group of 5 or so elephants, getting is share of water and leisurely making its way back into the darkness.
Departing Chudop, we stopped at a waterhole named Kalkhauwel, I believe. It was overrun by pachyderms too numerous to count! There were a few vehicles already there watching the show. Huge to small, all sizes drinking, playing, fighting, bathing, and socializing. At one point, with us watching the herd pass left to right leaving the waterhole with the sun behind them, two moderately large elephants started a shoving match, locking their trunks and pushing head to head. Our parked location had us 30 seconds from getting a whole lot of gray, wrinkled, elephant ass on top of our hood! Radhika had already been chanting the previous 15 seconds “Start the car. Start the car! Start the car!!” I did, and put a little more distance between us. In the meantime, to medium-sized vans pulled up packed with what turned out to be Italian tourists. Almost as soon as they stopped, they were yelling from vehicle to vehicle, and one idiot even got out to take pictures. He looked at me, shooting from the driver’s seat with my camera and long lens, and tossed back his head slightly in a manly, kindred spirit sort of gesture. I just shook my head and hoped my expression back to him conveyed what I was thinking – asshole. Everyone else, in all other vehicles, was being quiet, respectful of the other viewers and the animals. This lot was being ignorant from beginning to end. Even the Etosha safari guide in one of the trucks told the bonehead he wasn’t allowed to be outside the vehicle. Numbnuts paid him no mind. Where was a lion in the mood for some linguini when you needed one? Mangia, mangia!
The next waterhole was Springbokfontein. There were more of the same herbivores there, but as an added bonus we watched those funny looking ostriches come along for some water. We had seen a few already, but mostly from a distance. They are skittish too…very hard to get anywhere close without spooking them. We made the 150km (and more) roundtrip circuit for the day, getting back to Halali at 5:45pm again. Making photos at sunset is impossible, seeing as how the sun goes down close to 6:30 and you have to be inside the gate by 6. That was a little of a bummer. It would be nice to be able to stay out slightly past sunset, but you give humans and inch and they take a mile (or kilometer), and then dopes would be wandering around in the dark hitting animals or becoming a lion’s chew toy, so I understand their thinking by making everyone return before sundown. We took site number 16 tonight, doing better than the night before and not taking 20 minutes to decide on where to camp. It was still bright out too, and that was very helpful. Once again, we heard that the campsite was full, but we saw plenty of open spaces. We decided we would stay another day, and not leave Etosha tomorrow, but stay at Okaukuejo for a third night, considered to be the best camp of the 3 in Etosha, at the southwestern side of the park, 70km west of Halali. We had our dinner, finishing off the chicken and borrowing a can opener again to finish off the vegetables. We went to the waterhole, which was relatively quiet. Walking back to our campsite, we passed my 2nd cousin Jennifer, who was with her group that was doing fieldwork for their degrees. Part of their group decided to camp out all night at the waterhole, taking turns watching the action while the others slept, and waking the group if anything exciting occurred. We decided we would get an early start tomorrow, and try our luck at getting a spot at Okaukuejo at the end of the day.
The album for this post can be found here:
http://www.photoshop.com/user/johndp/?rlang=en_US&wf=sharegrid&galleryid=aea9f611754442d4a54cfb96c53c40bb&trackingid=BTAGC
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