Having previously visited Etosha in 2007 for two evenings we were chomping at the bit to get back there and take in everything that makes this our favourite game reserve. Assuming that you have read my previous post Good Morning Okaukuejo you will know that it did not disappoint, what you don’t already know is that, until that morning encounter with the pride of lions, our favourite wildlife experience had occured the day before!
From first hand experience I know that it is luck of the draw (or a ridiculous amount of money) that enables one to see natures finest creatures in their natural habitat. It is for this reason that I never take anything for granted when game driving and am continuously excited by what I see. Although there were no elephants to speak of (one wallowing in the distance doesn’t really count), no cheetahs and no leopards we did get to see a ridiculous amount of other wildlife. On our day drive from Namutoni to Okaukuejo we encountered countless zebra, springbok, impala, giraffe, wildebeest (blue), jackal, butterflies, eagles, vultures…. the list could go on and on. Aside from these incredible creatures we got to see numerous kudu, oryx (my favourite antelope), white rhino, four separate lions (three males, one female) and the incredibly elusive black rhino.
The black rhino is one of the most difficult creatures to catch a glimpse of, let alone experience a very close encounter with (especially outside of NE Swaziland), but somehow the game reserve gods were on our side and this was the most incredible wildlife experience we had ever had (until the following morning with the lions!)
On driving through the throngs of antelope, another car pulled up to us and the driver informed Nev and Kristy that there was a black rhino grazing on the side of the road about 10 minutes from where we were. Of course 10 minutes in a normal vehicle amounts to roughly 20 minutes in truck; nontheless Nev turned her around and off we trundled across the flat desert in what we thought would be a vain attempt to spot one of natures most magnificent creatures.
Arriving at the location we were pleasantly surprised to see that the black rhino had not disappeared, although it was around 20 metres from the side of the track emersed in the undergrowth. It is incredible that a creature the size of a rhino (and elephant for that matter) finds it so easy to make themselves invisible… anyway; it was not long until the rhino looked up and found 12 of us peering at it from the truck! I have had very close encounters with white rhino before but they are nowhere near as scatty (or aggresive) as a black rhino, so what happened next was, in my opinion, quite special. The rhino looked up from its grazing and strolled towards us still munching away on the undergrowth; at one point we all actually believed it was going to have a go at the truck. It proceeded to cross the road just metres from us, where it turned again to check us out, have a munch on some more unsuspecting plants and then strolled straight back across the road to its original location. All of this less than 10 metres from us. The rhino is such an incredible creature and so vividly associated with Africa it was a wonderful pleasure to be so close and look it in the eye… it is something that I will never forget.
Currently in Swakopmund on the Namibian coast relaxing whilst everyone else enjoys the adrenaline activities here (I did them all in ’07); I suspect that it wont be long until I rip the lid off of a Hunters Dry and carve my steak knife into a succulent piece of oryx… gotta love this country!
Click here for some of our Etosha photos.
Overland to Cape Town 