It was a long drove from the Erongo Mountains on 5th April. It took us nearly two hours to drive down from the plateau & into Omaruro. From there it was a drive of around 260 kms on quite a good tarred road. We arrived at our home for the next six nights: The Etosha Trading Post. It is around 6 kms from the Anderson Gate, which is the gateway to central Etosha National Park.
We had called in here on our last visit to Etosha & was impressed by the place: It has an excellent shop serving pies & toasties etc as well as fresh produce. The campsite itself is excellent, with a superb outdoor area with constant hot water, abundant shade & most importantly power. We quickly settled in & it was just as well as a big storm hit us, depositing tons of rain!
We were up & about quite early on 6th April, keen to visit Etosha once again. We entered the park just after dawn & saw large areas flooded from the recent rains. Everywhere was green! I certainly am not used to this! Normally we are driving through a very arid landscape, but not this visit!
We drove to Okaukuejo Camp & then took the road to Okondeka Waterhole, which skirts the edge of the pan. It was a slow drive, as there were tons of plains game: Springbok, Blue Wildebeest & Burchell's Zebra with the odd Gemsbok dotted around. I think that I have never seen so many Springbok in one day in my life. It was most impressive! We returned to Okaukuejo via the Leeubron Waterhole. This drive took up most of the day as there was so much to see! We didn't see any Cat species, but it was a marvelous day with lots of great birds & herds of mammals.
The rest of the afternoon was spent around camp & we had a lovely evening, before turning in for the night.
On the 7th April we were up super early before dawn & into the park. This time we decided to go east from Okaukuejo, first along the edge of the pan & then down through the Mopane scrub to Gemsbokvlakte, Olifantsbad & Aus. There was a lot less game in this area, but we did manage a few good bird sightings.
We enjoyed a nice late breakfast at Olifantsbad, which has newly renovated toilets & picnic areas: they have done a really good job. Let us hope the park authorities keep up with maintenance. Last time we were in this park all the picnic areas were run down, dirty & not fit for purpose.
On 8th April we again went west to Okondeka, Adamax, Natco & back via Leeubron. We took it very slowly & enjoyed some great mammal & bird sightings.
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The next day we went west on the main road as far as the Salvadora & Sueda loop road. Sightings were not as prolific as in previous days but we had a good time & a nice long lunch break at the picnic site close to Honob waterhole.
On the 10th April we stayed in camp. Myself working on my photos & Delana trying to finish her work report on a project in Zambia. In the evening we went out for a nice meal.
The next day we were up early, as we had decided not to take the short cut thrtough the park because of the bad road conditions. So instead of driving 177 kms we opted for the long way around via the tarred road, which is 420 kms! We arrived at Onguma mid-afternoon.
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