A Day in the Life....of Etosha National Park

Within a few minutes of entering the Etosha National Park in Namibia at sunrise we came across one of the most endangered animals in the world; the black rhino. It was a young male having his breakfast and we were close enough to hear what a noisy eater he was. We must have spent over half an hour watching him eat his way through several bushes.

When he had finished breakfast he decided it was time to cross the road and walked right in front of our vehicle, he was so close I could almost touch him. It was such a joy and a privilege to see such a majestic and rare creature.

After recovering our equilibrium we set off on the morning game drive through a landscape of every imaginable shade of brown and green with wildlife and bird life around every corner. We stopped for breakfast by a waterhole further into the park and at one point counted seven different species of animal. Gradually they started to edge towards the water and finally Impala, kudu, eland and zebra were all drinking at the same time.

And all this despite the fact that a group of male lions were sleeping under a tree only 50 or so metres away.

When we returned to the park in the afternoon we were naturally looking our for our breakfast buddy but instead of the young rhino there was an old bull elephant around the same spot. He was clearly in a grumpy mood and decided to take out his anger on a tree and as we watched he proceed to knock it over in three pushes.

We then headed to a different area where our guide thought there might be a leopard and we were in luck yet again as it was lying right by the road and waited patiently for us to take some photos before heading back into the bush. Within about five or six paces it was invisible.

After all this excitement we headed back to the waterhole where things were quieter although a giraffe was clearly in need of a good long drink.

Our guide felt this was a good time for a sundowner so out came an ice cold Windhoek lager and a gin and tonic and we were relaxing at the end of a great day when from our left what should appear but another young rhino.

He too was in need of a sundowner and was heading straight for the waterhole in front of us.  As our day had started, we had the honour of watching a rhino in its natural habit.

Our guide, Imelda, said that we had been truly blessed all day. How right she was.