Day Seventeen:  (Part Two) - Guest Blogger - Lynda Rabson  -   Into Etosha on our Own

Today was the big day.  We were going to venture into Etosha "the Great White Place" National Park, Namibia in our own vehicles.  

Etosha National Park is 22,270 square kilometers.  The "Pan" (salt lake bed devoid of moisture at this time of year) measures 110 km east/west X 60 km north/south and covers an area of 4,590 square kilometers.  Apparently, catfish (barbel) and water turtles hibernate approximately one meter under the dried, cracked surface of the Pan and await the return of water.

All of the cars, except the Rabsonmobile, were going for a half day drive.  Richard, Lynda and Alesa were going to set out for the whole day, promising to return to Toshari Lodge by dinner time.  The Park is open from sunrise until sunset, approximately 12 hours, 7 am - 7 pm.

We entered the Park through the Andersson Gate.  The vehicles parted ways at the Village of Okaukuejo at the southwest corner of the Park.  

We (the Rabsons), headed east from the gates visiting some semi-full, man-made watering holes and some bone dry.  

The Pan would not be filling with water until the rainy season (Nov - Jan).   After driving less than an hour, we came across a group of 4 cheetah just finishing their morning nap.  They were HUGE.  We got some great pictures before they had their post-nap stretch and disappeared down an embankment.

We continued on to a number of other marked "spots to stop".  We came across herds and herds of zebra and wildebeest.  The wildebeest , whose hearing and sense of smell are bad, stay fairly close to the zebra for any signs of danger.

Multitudes of springbok, impala and ostrich can be seen almost every time you look out the window.

At one "stop", where a dead elephant lay, jackals circled the beast.  They shared the kill, when they could, while the 2 female and 2 male lions lay napping nearby in the shade of a tree.  The lions seemed to have had their fill of food and got up only once to drink from the watering hole before they huddled together under some reeds for another sleep.

We drove as far at Von Lindequist Gate at the south east corner of the Park  where we had lunch.  After devouring a sandwich, we backtracked westward visiting some new "stops" and some former visited "stops".

The scenery is forever changing as the animals are continuously on the move.  Just as we were about to head back to the Lodge, Lynda spotted 3 leopards at the side of the road and she pulled over.  She had enough time to raise her iPad, point it in the direction of the leopards and press "video".  Within seconds two of the leopards crossed the road at full speed with the third lying in wait at the side of the road.  The two that had crossed the road were approaching a herd of springbok from behind and they flushed them from the bushes, forcing the herd to run across the road where the 3rd leopard was waiting.  The herd and the 3 leopards then disappeared into the bush.

We sat in our car for about 5 minutes trying to decifer exactly what it was that we had just witnessed.  TIMING IS EVERYTHING!

PS. We made it back to the Lodge in time for dinner.

Lynda Rabson