Etosha is the best known of the Namibian National Parks, and is located 4-500 Km North of the capital Windhoek. The park covers a huge area being around 110Km across East-West and 60Km North-South.

Of this area, tourists are restricted to a small percentage of the park in the southern half, but this small percentage is still a considerable area with plenty of wildlife viewing opportunities.

The name Etosha means “the great white place”, and takes its name from the dominating feature of its landscape – the Etosha Pan, a vast shallow depression of around 5000 square Kilometres. When the rains have been good, the pan fills with water to become a huge lake, but for most of the year it is a dried out expanse of white cracked salty mud.

Etosha was until the 1960′s the largest game reserve in the world, but it was reduced in size by a massive 77%. Even after the reduction in size, at 22,270 square kilometres it is still one of the largest parks in Africa.

Travelling to Etosha from Windhoek is an easy drive. From Windhoek, take the main B1 road North. The first town you will reach is Okahandja, home to an excellent wood market where local craftsmen sell their goods. From Okahandja the road heads north to Otjiwarongo. At Otjiwarongo, the choice of road depends on where you intend to stay.

If you are heading for Okaukuejo then take the C33 road towards Outjo, then the C40 from Outjo north to Etosha. If you are heading for Namutoni then continue on the B1 north from Otjiwarongo, passing through Otavi and Tsumeb, until you eventually reach the turn-off for Etosha – the C38 which takes you to the park.

If you are heading to Halali then either route is ok but its then a few hours drive to Halali once you reach the park gates. No off-road driving or driving at night is allowed in the park – tourists must stay on the roads, and make sure they are either out of the park, or inside one of the rest camps before sunset each day. The roads are the gravel roads found across much of Namibia and are fine for both 4WD and normal 2 wheel drive cars. There is a 60Km/hr speed limit within the park and it is important to stick to the speed limit as it gives you more chance of stopping if an animal walks out in front of you (plus speeding could lead to you being thrown out of the park).

Driving slowly also helps reduce the amount of dust thrown up behind you so is better for the environment and for any drivers who may be following you. Most drivers do tend to drive fairly slowly although there are normally a few who leave it a bit late to get back to the rest camp before the gates are locked at Sunset so this is when most speeding occurs. Animals in Etosha always have the right of way – especially Elephants.

When encountering animals on the road, it is best to stop at a safe distance – do not approach too close to rhino or elephants as they are capable of destroying your car with ease, and are capable of surprising speed. Do not get too close to elephants near the road – especially if they have young as the mothers are likely to be very protective of their young. When passing elephants at the side of the road, move over as far as possible to the other side of the road, and drive past slowly to avoid startling them.

Elephant on the road in Etosha – one of the larger driving hazards you might meet. One important thing to remember (which unfortunately many tourists forget) – The rules are that when outside the rest camps, you must stay within your vehicle at all times – there are lots of dangerous animals in the park and although you may not be able to see anything nearby, that doesn’t mean there is nothing around – predators such as lions have excellent camouflage. When waiting at waterholes, it is equally dangerous to leave the car door wide open. If you break the rules you risk being banned from the park.

One of the most important things to do if you are driving yourself is to make sure you have a map of Etosha. These are available cheaply in the rest camp shops, and show the roads that are open to tourists, as well as the locations of the waterholes, and the distances between them – this helps you find your way around and means you can estimate how long it will take to travel between places (vital when trying to judge how late you can leave it before heading back to the camps before sunset).

Check the parks features and attractions in detail:

Wildlife in Etosha National Park
Water holes in Etosha Namibia
Rest camps for safaris accommodation in the park