Etosha National Park

This blogpost was proudly brought to you by Lara. The adult version to fill in the gaps follows on below!

It’s Christmas Eve with Lara and friends…uh! Uh! We have Lara…and Jonah…Ell-i-ot!!! Mum and Dad and that’s the fam…ily!!!!

‘Twas December 24^th, the day before Christmas. We prepared for our epic journey from Ongava Lodge to Mushara bush camp. The voyage was on extremely bumpy gravel terrain making it almost impossible for Lara and Jonah to watch Netflix without getting a headache and many animals were spotted on the way. The drive through Etosha National Park was a quest with many challenges for the Albany family. We nearly ran over a greater kudu, had to stop for an urgent pee pee in a giant drop hole toilet in the middle of the bush and there was a squirrel in the men’s toilet, but we finally arrived at Mushara bush camp.

A lioness and her cub, just barely visible above the grass

They were quite far away and we only just spotted them because of their pointy ears! No they were not pups of any sort, but adult Bat Ear Foxes!

Herd of wilderbeests

One just by the side of the road

A very LARGE hyena that walked right by our car...

Field zebras

Rhino!

A springbok close up

A welcoming drink of homemade iced tea that did not taste like iced tea whatsoever was given to us. Lara did not like the drink but felt compelled to drink it. Mum did not finish. Elliot was the first to finish. Jonah and Dad both drank the full glass. After what felt like an eternity being briefed in the non-airconditioned lobby, we were shown to our rooms…which turned out to be mutant tents. It wasn’t a tent, but it wasn’t a building. It was a mutant tent room with a shower, toilet, lights, beds, couch and…NO AIRCONDITIONING. This left us entirely dependant on the single fan in the room to keep us cool from the smoking hot weather. Aside from the fact that there was no air conditioning, it was very pleasant with nice beds and mosquito nets. Following such luxurious lodges that carried our luggage to the rooms, Mum was not happy when we had to bring our own luggage to the room and even more unhappy when we discovered that there were luggage carts after manually trekking to our rooms while carrying our luggage by hand. There were also about a billion trillion moths outside the tent, all clinging their little hairy moth legs on the fly wall…Dad’s. Worst. Nightmare. Mum was paranoid that the moths would eat our clothes.

After settling into the rooms, we went back to the lobby to have lunch. As we were only seeking a light meal after the many snacks eaten on the road. We ordered severely overpriced cheese toasties with salad that Mum and Dad weren’t particularly happy about. Jonah didn’t even eat all his salad and there was capsicum…ew. At least there was ice-cream with chocolate sauce that came with the meal.

At this moment in time, we were all stinking hot and made the decision to get inside the pool before we all died of overheating. Lara somehow managed to get unchanged and changed into her swimmers with only one hand and the other filled with sunscreen. At the swimming pool, the first ever poolympics took place. It was a series of mini competitions in the pool including activities such as who could throw Jonah the furthest and who could carry Jonah for the longest above the water. Mum got out of the pool because she was convinced that she saw black mould but nobody else could see anything.

Overpriced lunch!

The common areas. Spacious and actually quite beautiful

The gorgeous decor of the bathroom. Very Stanley and Livingstone!

Our "mutant tent"

I don't think "camping" can get better than this...other than air-conditioning!

The vanity in the tent. Toilet to the left, and then shower to the right. It was so hot...the water coming out of the cold water tap stayed warm the whole shower...

Can't move....too hot

After showering in our cool tent showers, we went to dinner. The dining tables were decorated elaborately with glitter bonbons and other Christmas ornaments. There was only one problem…we were seated at the table underneath 13 lights and were being bombed by giant moths every 5 seconds. First came the entre which was a salad. Lara thought a lemon was an orange and ate it. Elliot made the same mistake after seeing Lara suffer from the sour taste of the lemon. Our mains came a billion years later, and we were served our game. And then there was dessert which took another billion years to come. It was a massive meringue with fruit cake ice-cream. Lara never thought there would be a day when she would dislike ice cream… After our three hour Christmas Eve dinner we all plonked in bed but struggled to fall asleep in the 25 degrees weather.

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The main purpose of today was our DIY game drive across Etosha National Park, considered one of Africa’s great parks in both size and diversity of wildlife. This was part of our “budget saving” sections in order to be able to splurge on staying at some of the nicer lodges. We were a little apprehensive and worried that we didn’t the skills to spot the animals. We needn’t have worried. Despite the recent rains which had dispersed the animals usually congregated at the waterholes, we still saw a lot, perhaps not as many as we would have with a trained guide but enough to keep this amateur crew happy. We just stopped when we saw others stop and that was a sure fire sign that there was something exciting to see! Our “animals sighted” list included a lioness with her cub, a male lion, a hyena, zebras crossing the road, giraffes, rhinos, bat ear fox (which we thought were baby jackals because they were tiny!) and many many more.

We thought we’d share some practical information which may be helpful if you are considering self-driving. Fill up on petrol outside the park (Outjo is a good option) as fuel within the park can be unreliable. The park opens and closes its gates at sunrise and sunset and all travel must be completed within those times including if you are staying within the National Park itself so do look up the times before hand. Your vehicle is registered at the gate where you are given a permit, you then have to pay the park fees (which were very reasonable ) at one of two gated towns (Okaukuejo and Namutoni) within the park itself. This receipt and registration papers are needed at the exit of the gate of your choice. Although we were only covering around 140km, the speed limit within the park is 60km/hr so it does take longer to cross it than a normal. Also take into consideration that your chances of spotting animals and getting good photos are better when driving slower. You may also want time just stopping and waiting at the waterholes as the animals come and go. Patience is a virtue!

We arrived after a tiring drive to Mushara Bush Camp just outside the Eastern gate (Von Lindequist Gate) of Etosha National Park. I struggle to be objective as it was very hot (as Lara has alluded to), I am heat averse (don’t ask me why I am in Africa in the summer) and known to get the grumps when unable to deal with the heat! The physical décor of the “camp” was actually very nice. It is many, many levels above the glamping options at home. It was designed to be more family friendly and so catered for families with younger children. The service though was well below the standard we had experienced elsewhere. The staff never gave adequate information about anything...I didn't mind paying for food but I would like to know the prices before hand! Although we were probably spoilt by our experiences in other parts of Namibia and South Africa. If we had come here first straight from Australia we may not have had an issue! We didn’t do much for the rest of the day as it was just too hot. Even dinner was a struggle. They had organised a lovely Christmas themed dinner with champagne, crackers on the table, and a gift for the guests. But the food was slow to arrive and we were hot and constantly attacked by moths. I was not happy!

Gifts for the adults!

The dinner menu

Creative decorations