World Namibia Uutsathima

Mark and Mika Take on the WORLD!!!

Etosha National Park Day 10-11 Overland Dec 27, 2005

Day 10-11 Overland: we finally made it to Etosha for opportunities to do some game viewing. The campgrounds floodlit waterhole gave us a wonderful night's experience. As we sat quietly admiring the few kudus and springboks who sipped quietly at the water, we noticed 5 forms materializing out of the horizon. Five black rhinos came to drink, and everyone else moved out of the way. We all watched for an hour as these creatures drank their fill. Our normally talkative group was silent with admiration the entire time. Other animals came and went, but none quite as captivating as the rhinos. 30 minutes later, while the rhinos were still drinking, three lanky giraffes patiently waited their turn. They were so skittish, not daring to come any where near the rhinos. Even after the rhinos left, it took the giraffes at least another 30 minutes to decide to take a drink. For them, having to put their heads down so low to drink is their most vulnerable position. They had to stay alert the entire time. Throughout the rest of the journey , we managed to see all the major animals, if only in small quantities. We have to admit, the game-viewing portion of the trip was a little depressing. We came during the wrong time of year when the animals are too spread out. However, the animals we did manage to see were absolutely amazing in the wild. They have the kind of grace and presence about them that you just don't see in captivity. Even the animals we often overlook in the zoos such as the antelopes gave us such delight. We learned quickly how to distinguish the tiny springbok from the magnificent Kudus to "nature's McDonalds' - the impala. We were also very amazed by the straight double horns of the Oryx. We eventually came upon some very lazy lions. They had no care in the world, and it didn't seem to matter that our truck was less than 15 feet from them. Amazing to see the difference in behavior between them and the skittish giraffe! The next morning we were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the elusive leopard, the most difficult animal to site, but in our excitement in finding him, we made too much noise in the truck and scared him away. Boo!

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