Yesterday we drove through the Etosha National Park. We got up very early and had to show our passports at the entrance. We needed the passports as ID, because there is a big problem with poaching rhino in the park.

I spotted a tall giraffe, right by the road, just inside the entrance. Then we saw lots more giraffes. They were very small and brown compared to the giraffes that we have seen.

First we went to the Goas water hole. We saw lots of antelope, mainly springbok, impala, kudu and oryx. We didn’t seen any eland though. We did see some of them plonking. This is when they jump with all four legs in the air. It looks very funny.

Then we went to the Etosha lookout. We drove right out onto the pan. It is a dried up lakebed. You could see nothing for miles and miles. It is very dry here. Namibia didn’t get rain when it was supposed to (Nov – Apr) and it is bad because there is no water to drink or grass for the animals to eat.

We saw lots of zebra and a mongoose.  We also saw some elephants standing very close to the road. Often they look like big rocks.

At one waterhole we saw jackals. We also saw lots of wildebeest.

We really wanted to see some predators. Everyone was looking in the trees for a leopard, but we didn’t see one. At the last waterhole we saw three lions. 2 male lions and 1 female. The lions were all sitting under the trees, waiting for dusk. Near the lions we saw some remains of some animals. Only the head and skin was left.

We drove through a campsite which had a waterhole next to it, and we saw an elephant having a drink. Then it sprayed watery mud over its back, sides and tummy like sunscreen. The other animals waited for the elephant to finish before they went back to the waterhole to drink.

I liked Etosha.