May 14, 2015

We have had an absolutely outstanding last 2 ½ days. We spent two full days on game drives in Etosha National Park in Namibia. We camped right near the park, so we got in just after sunrise on both days. The first morning we had good luck seeing animals right as we entered the park. On the way to the first water hole, we saw a couple of giraffes along with several kudu, tons of springbok and quite a few zebras. We got to the water hole and there were a few kudu there for the morning. After watching them for a few minutes, we moved on further into the park. Within just a few minutes, we came on some oryx right along the road.

The highlight was a while later when we spotted a male and female lion right next to the road! It was slightly embarrassing because it’s mating season, so we caught them in the middle of some action. Lol We spent quite a while watching them because they were very active and moving around. There were several bouts of mating during the time. Apparently, lions spend about two days mating to ensure the best possible chances of offspring. It also looked like they had a recent kill because both animals had blood on them and there was a pack of jackals nearby who were picking at something on the ground. After a while, it was time to move on from the lions.

That same day, we continued to drive around the park where we saw two white rhino, a total of four lions (two male, two female), about 30 elephants at the watering hole during lunch, and countless kudu, oryx, zebras, giraffes, springbok, impala, and more that I can’t remember!

As we were finishing the day, we were heading toward the exit where we were stopped by a herd of elephants crossing the road after leaving the water hole for the day. It was really cool to see them come right in from of the truck. One of them even tried to get his trunk into the truck, but luckily Benson, our co-pilot, was quick to roll up his window! That night we headed back to camp to eat dinner and get ready for another day of driving.

The next morning wasn’t quite as exciting as the previous morning. We did see some animals as we came into the park, but it was mostly zebras, giraffes, and a bunch of smaller game. We did have good luck seeing lots of babies during the day! We saw baby zebras, giraffes, elephants, and springbok.

We saw a couple more lions, but unfortunately, we didn’t see a cheetahs or leopards during the trip. We still have a few parks to go that include big cats, so hopefully we will see them at some point on the trip.

I think Hayden’s favorite part of the trip was that he got to be the co-pilot for the afternoon part of the drive. Our cook stayed back to make dinner while we were out, so Hayden was promoted to the front of the truck to be the “spotter”. He did a good job and found us some giraffe, flamingos, and another elephant.

After our long day, we got back to camp for dinner and then went off to bed pretty early. At some point during the night, a group of hyenas had a kill very close to the edge of the camp because we heard a HUGE commotion and the noise lasted on and off most of the night. The hyenas were super loud and they were calling out to the other hyenas which then came over to get a part of the action. At some point (at least one) lion was also there because we heard it roaring as well.

After a not so great night of sleep, we made one more quick trip into the park this morning before taking off for our new camp further to the east.