The 20 000-square kilometer Etosha National Park is a vast expanse of game-rich savannah centred on an immense saltpan – the Etosha Pan, 4 950 square kilometres in extent. It is the largest saltpan in Africa and an evocative remnant of an ancient super-lake. If it was possible to have visited the pan several million years ago, one would probably have seen an enormous lake supporting a multitude of birds and animals – probably similar to the present-day Okavango Delta system. Due to shifting continental plates, the river that once fed this lake dried up, and over time the sunken, dry depression we see today was formed.
Away from the pan, the topography is generally flat with a range of habitats ranging from mopane and terminalia woodlands to wide-open, acacia-dotted plains. The Haunted Forest, where odd, misshapen moringa trees create a strange woodland scene, is a habitat highlight. This unique place of shimmering landscapes and vast openness allows visitors to explore the lives of an amazing array of wildlife with considerable ease.
Etosha is Namibia’s premier wildlife destination – game viewing along the numerous springs and waterholes often reveals lion, leopard, elephant, southern giraffe, red hartebeest, rare black-faced impala, endangered black rhino, as well as more common plains game such as blue wildebeest, Burchell’s zebra, desert-adapted gemsbok and springbok in their hundreds. The comical ground squirrels, with their bushy parasol-like tails, are also a highlight.
Birdlife in Etosha is prolific with over 340 species recorded – including several of Namibia’s
14 endemics. Sociable weavers and their enormous communal nests, pugnacious pygmy falcons and the brilliantly coloured crimson-breasted shrike are common highlights. Namaqua sandgrouse, double-banded courser, northern black korhaan and many lark species (spike-heeled, pink-billed, sabota and Stark’s) occupy the plains. The acacia thickets harbour yellow-bellied eremomela, pririt batis and Acacia pied barbet. Birds like red-headed finch and lark-like bunting also commonly flock around waterholes where predatory red-necked falcon often look for a meal.
