Etosha - waterholes, rhino soap operas & thieving jackals; Namibia

We bid the Hoba Meteorite farewell the next morning as we departed the campsite en route to Etosha. After a pretty easy drive, we pulled up at the national park's gates & passed through into unbeknownst to us, one of the most thriving parks for discovering wildlife! We took the first left and ventured towards the first water hole & immediately we were met by giraffes, elephants, zebra, Impala, an oryx & a lone jackal. It was incredible viewing how these creatures go about having a drink, the giraffes in particular: they wait until they think the coast is clear, hesitantly spread their front legs & lean down to wet their whistle. If they drink for longer than 60 seconds, all the blood rushes to their heads & they will most likely topple in! 

After getting a good dose of wildlife viewing we headed to a fancy resort, 'Namutoni,' near by... Not to check into a fancy room but to set up tent in their camping grounds. The good thing being that we were able to use their amenities, so after a splash in the icy cold pool I hit up a hot water shower! We then headed off to check out some more water holes on dusk when they are supposedly more active. Nothing was really thriving as much as the first but we still lucky to find more giraffes, kudu and black faced Impala. 

We arrived back at camp and were quick to jump into some warmer clothing and thaw out by the camp fire dinner and before bed. The next morning we woke with the sun, she lit up the sky with vibrant oranges and pinks which we admired before setting off for a chance to see what dusk might draw to the watering hole. The drive there found us spotted hyenas, a couple of adorable dik diks, and finally an incredible black rhino grazing on sharp shrubs. After stopping to snap countless photos of him, we made a brief stop at the salt pans to play around with some creative illusion photography. 

Reaching the waterhole we found more elephants, kudu, zebras and the black faced Impala, feeling rather thirsty and hot ourselves we set up for lunch at another fancy resort. After a brief splash in the pool, Sean and I headed up a dirt track to view another water hole full of life - particularly elephants - before again taking advantage of a HOT shower! 

Back on the road in the afternoon, dodging elephants holding up traffic we came to another rhino treating himself to a solo drink! We all sat mesmerised by this black beauty before making tracks to our next camping grounds. Not let down by our luck we stumbled upon two lions, a male stalking after his woman, giving her a quick shag as she rested and on they prowled as we watched only metres away! 

We arrived at the camping grounds just in time to run up the clock viewing tower and see the setting sun! After a quick delicious dinner of burgers that Sean made, fighting off the pestering jackals we raced down to our flood lit watering hole. Scoring a seat, Louise, Jess, Chloe, Sean and I got nice and cosy in our sleeping bags on the the viewing benches and couldn't wait for the curtains to be drawn.. It was literally like watching the most dramatic, extraordinary and unpredictable theatre show unveil before our eyes. A few bottles of bubbly and red later we had seen it all, from rhinos stalking elephants, elephants fighting, rhinos engaging in battle (we saw 13 black rhinos all up!) giraffes spreading their legs to drink and zebras hesitantly taking a swig! IT WAS AMAZING!!!!! We stayed until the very last rhino exited stage right, stoked by the performance and drunk from the wine we all merrily skipped off to bed! 

Up again at the crack of dawn, we were all sitting finishing breakfast when a man yelled 'lions!' Plates down, coffee spilt and still chewing we ran to the water hole to find two gorgeous young bachelors having a drink. One was a bit younger than the other & you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a lioness. As we had to depart early, we quickly snapped a few pics & raced back to the truck. We all hopped on & took off!

The drive to the exit was uneventful, with even the waterholes bare of any animal existence. We felt even more grateful for catching the spectacle last night, seeing all that we did! Leaving through the Etosha gates, we bid farewell to some amazing scenery & wildlife, but somehow I don't think for good!