The Country
Namibia is a country located in southwest Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. Namibia is officially known as Republic of Namibia. This large and mainly arid country shares its borders with Bostwana, Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
This is the only country in this world to have protection of natural resources and address conservation. The Article 95 of the constitution states , “The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting international policies aimed at the following: maintenance of ecosystems, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity of Namibia, and utilization of living natural resources on a sustainable basis for the benefit of all Namibians, both present and future.”
Etosha National Park
The Etosha Game Park which was given the status of a National Park in 1907 is South Africa’s most important and finest park. This park covers extends and covers an area of 22,270 square km. The park is in fact the home for 340 bird species, 114 mammal species, 110 reptile species, 16 amphibian species and also one species of fish. For any holiday chart prepared for Namibia, Etosha Park will be a definite destination on it.
The term Etosha means “Great White Place”. The park is dominated by huge amount mineral pan. The part of the Kalahari Basin, which was originated around 1000 million years ago, is known is pan. One fourth of this National Park is covered by the Pan. The pan was in fact a lake fed by the River Kunene. But the lake dried up when the river course was changed some many years ago.
The pan is presently a large and dusty mixture of clay and salt which holds water on rainy days. However this temporary water attracts thousands of beautiful birds including the famous flocks of flamingos.
The game viewing is an excellent pleasure for eyes in this Park. The best time for this is from May to September- the cooler months in the country. Many buck species, elephants, giraffe, rhino and lions can also been seen in this wonderful Park. More fortunate visitors will see leopard and cheetah.
Camping & Lodging
Basically Etosha provides three rest camps to its visitors which are Namutoni, Halali and Okaukuejo. Tourist facilities such as a basic goods shop, a restaurant, a motor garage for basic repairs & fuel, a swimming pool and various ranks of camping & accommodation facilities are also available in each of these camps. Besides these, Onkoshi Camp, an eco-friendly luxury lodge inside Etosha, is also available for camping. Non-resident visitors to Etosha can stop off at these camps for rest, recreation, and refueling.
The Park is only open from sunrise to sunset and visitors either have to be in any of the camps, or completely outside the park beyond these hours. Also Etosha does not provide its own guided safaris. So if you need a guided safari you are either required to stay at one of the private lodging which offer this service or manually make private guided safari.
Park Essentials
The daily entrance fee is N$80 for foreign visitors and for a passenger vehicle (with 10 seats max) its N$10.
