The Etosha National Park

With a total area of 22 270 km2 Etosha National Park is one of the largest parks in Africa. The pans cover an area of 5 140 km2, with the Etosha pan’s size alone being 4 590 km2.

The word “Etosha” means the Great White Place or Place of Emptiness, describing the vast salt pan. There are three tourist camps in the park: Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni.

In 1907 Von Lindequist, Governor of the then German South West Africa (the entrance near Namutoni was named after him) declared an area of 99 526 km2 as a game park. This area included the present reserve as well as the pans. The park’s borders have since been changed a number of times, and became known as the Etosha National Park in 1958. In 1970 it was reduced to its present size.

Winters in the park are cool and dry. This is the best time for tourists, as the animals tend to congregate around the water holes. The rainy season usually begins in November, whilst February is the wettest month of the year. Average rainfall: Namutoni 443 mm, Halali 429 mm and Okaukuejo 412 mm. Summer temperatures can be as high as 400 C. Winter temperatures are moderate with a minimum of 60 C in July (at night).

THE PAN

The Etosha Pan is 120 km at its longest and 72 km at its widest. Apart from the main pan there are a few smaller ones to the west and the north-west. The pan is mostly dry, except when heavy downpours occur and floodwater from the north flows into it. Near Namutoni (Fischer’s Pan) the pan does in fact have water for the greater part of the year. It is here that tourist can watch flamingos. The salinity of this water is sometimes twice that of sea water.

The pan is the bottom of a large, shallow inland lake which dried up. It seems that long-term climatic changes were responsible for the pan as we know it today. Evaporation at a rate of approximately 3 000 mm per year caused the lake to disappear quickly. In the process the sandy clay floor became brackish. Once the lake was completely dry, the brittle, brackish soil was more easily eroded by the wind, so that the pan became gradually deeper.

The pan is also known by the name “Lake of a Mother’s Tears”, to illustrate the limitless grief of a Hei//om mother when her infant died.

During the rainy season water flows into the pan from the Ekuma and Omuramba Rivers in the Far North. The pan seldom fills up completely. The greenish shade of the soil in the northern parts of the pan can be attributed to clay minerals imported during the rainy season, and to algae which grow in the shallow water.

Permanent springs are plentiful in the southern parts of the pan; water which gathers during the rainy period in the porous lime formation flows on to the impermeable clay floor of the pan.

FOUNTAINS

There are three types of springs in the game park, namely:
• Artesian springs. These are fountains which flow upwards under pressure to the surface. They are characterised by the fact that they emerge on top of limestone outcrops which rise several metres above the surrounding countryside. Examples: Namutoni, Klein Namutoni, Koinachas and Goas.
• Water level springs. These are created in places where the ground water level cuts through the ground surface. In the park they are usually to be found in lime valleys so deep that the lime stretches to below the water level. The depth of the ground water level in this area varies between 1,5 to 9 metres. These springs are mainly found in the western parts of the pan. They are very vulnerable to drought and can dry up completely when the water level drops. Examples are Okaukuejo, Ombika, Aus, Homob and Nuamses.
• Contact springs. These fountains are created on the contact face of two formations of varying permeability. They are found on the edge of the pan, just below the calcrete. The water is stored in the calcrete and the underlying clay layers. These springs as a rule do not supply much water. Some are relatively high above the pan, whilst others again emerge very nearly on the pan’s surface. Examples here are Okerfontein (the strongest), Okondeka, Ondongab and the small fountains on the edge of the pan. They are found chiefly in the eastern parts of the pan.

WATER HOLES

The Etosha National Park’s water holes each have their own character. There are natural water holes and those which are fed artificially from bore holes. Examples of the latter are Olifantsbad and Ozonjuitji m’Bari.

It is important to remember that the water levels of the holes and the number of game to see there vary from season to season, depending on the rainfall and the migration of the animals. Certain artificial drinking places may be dry periodically due to a rotation system of providing water to game. Some water holes are normally dry in the winter when rain does not fall. Dry water holes are indicated on the map.

The list of water holes which follows serves merely as a guide for better game viewing opportunities. It is advisable to consult camp officials regarding game concentrations before undertaking trips.

The descriptions of the holes are based on the dry season that is in winter, May to August which is the best season for visiting the park. In the rainy season when there is sufficient water available in the veld the animals congregate less at the water holes.

• Adamax: This water hole, as well as four others north of Okaukuejo (Grunewald, Leeubron, Natco and Wolfsnes) is dry most of the time.
• Andoni: Lies on a plain and is the furthest in to the park. Many bird species are seen here. It also lies close to the new entrance gate to Etosha, namely Nehale Lya Mpingana Gate.
• Aroe: This is on the edge of Fischer’s Pan. Elephant, springbok, blue wildebeest, kudu, zebra and giraffe can be seen here.
• Aus: Well worth a visit. It is fed by a water level fountain and situated in mopani veld. This hole lures elephant, zebra, springbok, red hartebeest, black-faced impala, kudu, gemsbok and sometimes also rhino.
• Batia: Excellent for general game viewing. Large herds of springbok, blue wildebeest and elephant can be see. However, it is quite often dry.
• Charitsaub: This is one of the three watering places halfway between Okaukuejo and Halali (the others are Salvadora and Sueda). For most of the time it is dry.
• Chudob: Fed by an artesian fountain, it is a floating reed island, a phenomenon associated with this sort of fountain. It is one of the few places where eland congregate. Apart from eland, black-faced impala and warthog also come to drink. Giraffe also gather here, probably one of the best places at which to photograph them.
• Gaseb: Usually dry, but a fairly good place to see rhino.
• Gemsbokvlakte: Excellent for viewing game in the dry season. The best part of the day for photography is in the afternoon. This water hole attracts a large variety of animals including lion and elephants.
• Goas: Has been described as a paradise. It attracts vast numbers of animals, particularly in the dry season. Black-faced impala, blue wildebeest, lion, elephant and hundreds of zebra come here to drink. Birds of prey are also often seen.
• Great Okevi: Like Klein Okevi, situated due south, it is fed by a water level fountain. Kudu, zebra and elephant can often be seen, as well as predators, such as cheetah and leopard.
• Homob: Situated close to the edge of the pan, it attracts many animals, including lion and elephant.
• Kalkheuwel: This is considered the best water hole by many photographers. It lies in attractive mopani veld and it is possible to get very close to animals. In the dry season large numbers of animals come to the hole to drink. When lions are present other animals have to wait their turn. Gemsbok, giraffe and elephants are often spotted. Leopard are present in the area. It is also a good place for bird watching and photography of birds of prey. These include the bateleur eagle and the black (yellow-billed) kite.
• Kapupuhedi: The white pan affords a good background for the photographer. The hole is sometimes dry.
• Koinachas: Fed by an artesian fountain and is visited reasonably often by game.
• Klein Namutoni: This water hole is fed by an artesian spring. A fair number of game visit it, like the black-faced impala, zebra, elephant, leopard and large numbers of giraffe. Hyena is often seen in the late afternoon. Nearby is Bloubok-draai where the tiny Damara dik-dik antelope can be seen.
• Klein Okevi: At this interesting water level spring, at which black-faced impala, kudu, gemsbok, zebra, elephant and even cheetah can often be spotted, a large variety of birds can be seen.
• King Nehale: This water hole lies adjacent to Namutoni rest camp and is illuminated at night.
• Leeubron: Formerly this water hole attracted lion and large zebra herds. It is now mostly dry.
• Moringa: This water hole lies adjacent to Halali Rest Camp and attracts variety of game, including elephants. It is illuminated at night.
• Newbrownii: Named after the water acacia Acacia Newbrownii thickets surrounding it, it attracts high numbers of animals, particularly elephants. The water comes from a bore hole that was sunk to relieve pressure on Okaukuejo’s vegetation.
• Ngobib: A water level spring. It lies in a hollow and is therefore not to visible. It does however, attract kudu, zebra and elephant. Leopard may be found in the area around the hole and cheetah along the circular road.
• Nuamses: Can be described as a smaller edition of Homob. It is close to the pan.
• Okaukuejo: Offers the tourist a unique experience in winter. It is next to Okaukuejo Rest Camp and the animals can be viewed without the limitations imposed by a vehicle. The drinking place is illuminated at night. Elephant, zebra, kudu and springbok are seen a lot. Lions often visit the water hole. At night black rhino pay visits quite regularly.
• Okondeka: A contact fountain which lies on the edge of the pan, is visited by animals from the plains, as well as giraffe. Lion is quite often seen.
• Okerfontein: The strongest contact spring, and situated on the edge of the pan. It is not particularly popular but cheetah and lion can sometimes be spotted.
• Olifantsbad: Attractive mopani veld situated between Gemsbokvlakte and Aus. Lion, large elephant herds, zebra and a variety of antelope such as springbok, black-faced impala, red hartebeest, kudu and gemsbok visit this water hole. Black rhino is sometimes seen.
• Ombika: One of the better drinking places, visited by quite a variety of animals including lions.
• Ozonjuitji m’Bari: Rather far from Okaukuejo, therefore tourists need to allow enough time to return to the rest camp before sunset. Fortunately one passes through Fairy-tale Forest on the way, which is worth a visit. Quite a number of animals come here to drink. It is the only place where roan antelope can be seen.
• Rietfontein: This is one of the best known drinking places in the park. It has a large water surface area, at which springbok, lion, elephant and nearly all species of animal in the park, including leopard come to drink. It is essential for bird lovers as water birds and birds of prey abound here.
• Salvadora and Sueda: Both these drinking places are on the edge of the pan and attract the same kind of animals as Charitsaub.
• Springbokfontein: This is another of the watering places formed by a contact spring on the edge of the pan. A variety of game come here and sometimes even white rhino.
• Tsumcor: Tsumcor favours “elephant photographers”. A wide variety of other animals also visit this water hole.
• Two Palms: A beautiful part of the park. It is on the edge of Fischer’s Pan and next to two makalani palms which give the place its name. Sunsets from here are particularly pleasing for photographers.

ANIMALS

There are close on 114 species of mammal in Etosha. They include the black-faced impala - there are no southern impala in the park - and the threatened black and white rhino. There are no buffalo, hippo, crocodile or monkeys.

When the rainy season starts in the summer months, October to April animals seldom need to visit the drinking places along the tourist routes. So this is not the best time to visit the park.

At this time of year, however, large herds of game can be seen on the grass plains west of Okaukuejo and in the area around Fischer’s Pan near Namutoni. The formation of large herds is a defence strategy against the relatively high concentration of predators which follow the game. From time to time large concentrations can also be found on the Andoni Plains north of Namutoni.
The period of concentration of game and migratory patterns vary from year to year. The better the grasslands around Okaukuejo after the rainy season, the longer the concentrations of game. At the beginning of the rainy season the animals disappear quickly from the tourist areas, but return gradually after the rains.

The rainy season is also the time of year when many young animals can be seen, since it is also the lambing and calving season. The young of jackals, foxes and the felines are often seen, especially near Okaukuejo and Halali.

After the first rains most of the elephant leave the tourist area for the northern and southern part of the park. Some of them even leave the park for areas outside, depending on the availability of water.

BIRDS

(The numbers in brackets correspond to those in Roberts’ Birds of Southern Africa)

Of the 340 bird species that have been identified in the park, approximately a third are migratory, as for example the European bee-eater (438) and a variety of waders. During good rainy seasons there are large gatherings of water birds and waders at Fischer’s Pan. The beautiful lesser (97) and greater (96) flamingos also assemble here.

Of the 35 raptor species ten are migratory and come to Etosha for the summer. Examples are the yellow-billed kite (126), the steppe eagle (133), the western red-footed kestrel (179), the lesser kestrel (183) and the booted eagle (136).

The smallest bird of prey in Etosha is the pygmy falcon (186) which is smaller than a dove. Eight owl species occur, including the pearl-spotted owl (398), the spotted eagle owl (401), the white-faced owl (397) and four species of nightjars.

Amongst vulture species, usually seen at carcasses, the white-backed (123) and the lappet-faced (124) are the most common. The white-headed vulture (125) is also sometimes seen. The Cape vulture (122), Egyptian vulture (120), palmnut vulture (147) and hooded vulture (121) are extremely rare.

Amongst the rarest species found in the park are the whimbrel (290), black-tailed godwit (287), slaty egret (70), goliath heron (64), purple heron (65), little bittern (78), dwarf bittern (79), wattled crane (207) and the crowned crane (209).

At Halali are to be found the bare-cheeked babbler (564), black-faced babbler (561) and violet woodhoopoe (453). Parrots can be seen at Kalkheuwel. The Monteiro’s hornbill (462) is sometimes spotted.

The chestnut weaver (812) is found only in Northern Namibia. The striking red-breasted shrike (739) occurs fairly generally. Twelve species of larks are found and three species of sandgrouse, namely the Namaqua sandgrouse (344), Burchell’s sandgrouse (345) and the double-banded sandgrouse (347).

SNAKES

According to estimates there are some 50 snake species in Etosha. Most of them not dangerous such as the mole snake (Pseudapsis cana), house snake (Boaedon fuliginosus), grass snake (Genus Psam-mophis), skaapstekers (Genus Psammo-phylax) and egg-eaters (Dasypeltis scabra). The southern African rock python (Python natalenses) and the dwarf python (Python anchietae) are found in Etosha. The latter especially in the mountainous areas in the west.
Poisonous snakes in the park are the puff-adder (Bitis arietans), burrowing adder (Atractaspis bibronii) - a black snake that burrows in the sand, boomslang (Dispholidus typus) well re-presented and the bird or twig snake (Thelotornis kirtlandii) - more common in the east of the park. The lethal black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepsis) occurs rather more in the eastern part of the park. The green mamba is not found in Namibia.

The western barred spitting cobra, also known a the zebra snake, (Naja nigricollis nigricinta) with its black and white lateral bands from head to tail looks like typical cobra, but the effect of its poison is the destruction of tissue - as in the puff-adder - whilst the typical cobra’s poison paralyses the nervous system. It can spit as far as 2,5 meter.

Other poisonous snakes are the banded and dark brown Angolan cobra (Naja heje anchietae), the Namibian coral snake (Aspidelaps lubricus) and the horned adder (Bitis caudalis).

REST CAMPS

OKAUKUEJO: Okaukuejo is the main administrative camp of the park and was officially opened for tourists in October 1957.

The name Okaukuejo (the original spelling is Okakwiyu) means “the woman who has a child every year” or a prolific woman. There are several other explanations for the name.

Okaukuejo was a control post after the outbreak of rinderpest in 1897 when the German authorities threw a cordon around the northern part of the country to prevent the disease from spreading. In 1901 a military outpost was established here and a fortification with a round tower of limestone erected. It was destroyed a few years later, after which it was converted into a police post.

The first game ranger to be stationed in Etosha was B. J. G. de la Bat, who later became Director of Nature Conservation. De la Bat arrived in Okaukuejo in 1953 and lived in the stables behind the present restaurant. At that time the only inhabitants were San People, from amongst whom the first workers were appointed. In the early years tourists use to camp around the Okaukuejo water hole. The present water tower in the camp was built in 1963.

NAMUTONI: The rest camp was opened to tourists in 1958, and is, after Okaukuejo, the second oldest camp. The fort itself was declared a national monument in 1950.

The name Namutoni means “an elevated place” or “place which can be seen from far away”, because it is noticeably elevated due to the accumulated mineral deposits borne to the surface by artesian water.

Adjacent to the camp lies Namutoni fountain, now known as King Nehale Water Hole, a bowl-shaped limestone fountain in a marshy environment consisting of tall reeds, earlier a drinking place for cattle.

The outside world came to know about it for the first time in 1851 when explorers Charles Andersson and Francis Galton camped in the area. In 1870 a group of Thirstland Trekkers also stayed here.

In 1897 with the outbreak of the rinderpest Namutoni served as a control post and later became a border post to prevent, amongst other things, the smuggling of liquor and weapons to people in the north.

During 1902 and 1903 the first fort, a six-roomed building, was erected. In 1904, however, it was totally destroyed by the Owambo people. In 1906 it was rebuilt and considerably enlarged. It was never again attacked. From 1910 onwards it served periodically as a police post, but eventually fell in disuse. It was rebuilt in 1956 according to the original design and opened as a tourist camp in 1958.

HALALI: Opened in 1967 this is the newest camp in the park. The camp is halfway between Okaukuejo and Namutoni.

The name Halali is traditionally used in Germany by hunters who sound the “Halali Horn”, a bugle-like instrument signifying that the quarry has been brought to bay and the hunt is over. In Etosha the word is used with a different connotation: it proclaims that within Etosha’s borders sport hunting is indeed over and there will be no more needless killing of wildlife.

The first resident control ranger was the well-known artist Zakkie Eloff who later moved to South Africa. Some of his paintings hang in the Ecological Institute at Okaukuejo.

The only hills in the park, open to tourist, are at Halali. The German Schutztruppe operated a heliograph station on these hills to send messages to Okaukuejo and Namutoni.

FAIRY-TALE FOREST

This unique forest is about 32 kilometres west of Okaukuejo and covers an area of approximately one square kilometre. The fairy-tale tree (Moringa ovalifolia) is to be found in Namibia only and occurs from Naukluft in the south to Kunene Region in the north. What makes the Fairy-Tale Forest unique is that the trunks of these trees are particularly knobbly except on the Halali hills where their trunks are fairly smooth and upright. The trees usually only grow on the slopes of mountains and hills and Etosha is the only place where the trees grow in such numbers on the plains.

The San People described them as upside-down trees, since they believed the trees were thrown out of paradise in anger and landed upside-down.

PLACE NAMES

The entrance gate to the park in the east is called Andersson Gate in honour of the explorer Charles Andersson who teamed with Francis Galton to become the first Europeans to record the existence of Etosha Pan when they reached Namutoni in 1851.

Von Lindequist Gate is the eastern entrance to the park. The name is in honour of the Governor of the then German South West Africa who had the foresight to proclaim Etosha a game reserve on 22 March 1907.

The Galton Gate is the western entrance to the park. The name is in honour of the explorer Francis Galton who was the first European together with Charles Andersson to see the Etosha Pan in 1851.

A fourth gate is now open, namely the Nehale Lya Mpingana Gate. The gate is named after a king of the former Owamboland. The gate is near Andoni Plains.

In the western part of the park there is a fourth camp called Otjovazandu. It is not a rest camp but just a station for park staff working in that region. The correct spelling is Otjovazandu and the meaning of it is “place of the young men”. Warriors use to utilise the nearby perennial spring as an outpost for watering their cattle.

Bibliography

Berry, Hu, Rocher, Stoffel, Cooper, Tryg, Paxton, Mark. “Origin and meaning of Place Names in the Etosha National Park Namibia” 1998.

Text by Henk Coetsee, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, 2002.