Etosha National Park & Etosha Pan

Etosha National Park is probably one of the best game-viewing regions in the world. Its name (meaning ‘great white place of dry water’) comes from the Etosha Pan, a vast, flat, saline desert. When a good rainy season happens, the normally dry river channels carry water to this gentle depression turning it into a shallow lagoon. This unusual oasis then becomes a busy watering hole as it draws in a variety of animals and, for a few days each year, thousands of flamingos and pelicans.

About 80% of Etosha National Park is covered by mopane woodland. Scrubby savannah, umbrella thorn acacias and other trees enjoyed by browsers are also part of Etosha’s landscape.

Incredible game and birdlife

The park protects over 100 species of mammal, 16 species of reptile and amphibian and an incredible 340 species of bird. As well as elephant, Burchell’s zebra, giraffe, cheetah, lion and leopard, Etosha is home to the protected black-faced impala and black rhino. Here you are also likely to encounter springbok, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, eland, kudu, roan, jackals and hyena. The abundant birdlife includes korhaans, marabou, yellow-billed hornbills, ostrich, white-backed vultures and the enormous kori bustard, which can exceed 15kg in weight.

Photographs by Michael Poliza and Dana Allen with kind permission of Wilderness Safaris