Our first full day in Etosha was fucking incredible. We jump in our car and start driving around the park. Most people that come here usually book game drives with a guide, but self driving gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted. We could choose where we wanted to go, how long we wanted to stay at each stop, and where to view animals from. It was an amazing experience to just drive around the park, searching for animals on our own. We saw tons of Springbok, zebras, wildebeest, kudu, and ostriches. The amount of wildlife in the park is insane. The park has tons of watering holes and each one will have various animals coming in to quench their thirst. What you can see is totally random as it depends on what animals might be cruising through, and when you are there. You may have just missed some lions a few minutes ago, or you may have shown up at the perfect time.
After a long day of driving, we stopped for the night at our next campsite. We went swimming in the pool, and it was kind of crazy to think that here we were, swimming in a swimming pool in the middle of Namibia, in a park filled with lions, elephants, and whatever else. At night, we went to the night waterhole at camp. Very soon, a bunch elephants came in, and then later several rhinos including some youngsters. After some time, the young rhinos started play fighting, and we got to see them snorting and running at each other. It’s fascinating because each waterhole has a hierarchy. The zebras and gemsbok won’t approach if there are elephants around, or at the very least approach super cautiously, constantly peering around while they drink. It was tough to tell who was at the top of the hierarchy though. At one point, a big elephant wandered through a few rhinos, sending them running. But then later, a rhino charged towards a family of elephants and the entire herd of elephants ran off. Such fascinating dynamics.
