Etosha National Park National Park

Address: Etosha National Park, Namibia (multiple gates/camps across the park)

Website: https://www.nwr.com.na/parks/etosha-national-park

Hours: Etosha National Park is open year‑round (best wildlife viewing in the dry season); gate and camp hours vary by entrance/camp.

Admission: Park entry and gate fees apply; see official Namibian park or Namibia Wildlife Resorts pages for current rates.

Etosha National Park is a large conservation area in northern Namibia centered on an extensive salt pan and surrounding savanna and shrubland. The park is one of the country’s principal wildlife reserves and supports a wide range of southern African species.

The central salt pan forms a stark open landscape with surrounding grasslands and mopane woodlands where game concentrates around permanent waterholes. Visitors commonly watch elephants, lions, black rhinoceros, giraffes and plains game at a network of staffed camps and waterholes.

The area has been managed for wildlife protection since the early 20th century and later expanded into a national park and tourism destination. Management and infrastructure focus on providing access to key waterhole viewing sites while conserving the pan and surrounding habitats.

Etosha occupies a large area in northern Namibia and is accessed from regional towns to the south and east; the park’s broad pan is visible from roads and visitor camps located on the pan’s periphery.

• When to visit: The dry season, typically June to October, concentrates wildlife around permanent waterholes and is the best period for reliable game viewing.
• Night viewing opportunities: Several main camps provide floodlit waterhole viewing where animals gather at night, increasing chances of sightings after dark.

What to See#

• Etosha Pan: A vast, shallow salt pan at the heart of the park that becomes a bright white flat surface in dry months and a temporary wetland in wetter seasons.
• Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni waterholes and camps: A number of permanent and seasonal waterholes and floodlit viewing points used for reliable wildlife observation, including long-established camps and visitor stations.

Etosha National Park is in northern Namibia and is commonly reached by road from Windhoek or by flying to regional airports (e.g., Ondangwa or Grootfontein) and driving in. From Windhoek the drive to central park camps such as Okaukuejo is a several‑hour trip (commonly around 4-5 hours) north on the B1 and connecting roads; from Ondangwa or other northern airfields the drive into the park is shorter (typically 1-2 hours). Visitors use main paved highways and park access roads to reach the gates and camps.

• Visit during the dry season (roughly May-October) when water is scarce and wildlife concentrates at permanent waterholes-this greatly increases your chances of consistent sightings.
• Base yourself at or near a main rest camp with a protected waterhole (Okaukuejo is well known for its illuminated waterhole) so you can watch animals gather in the evenings and at night without leaving the camp.
• Plan game drives for dawn and dusk when animals are most active, and consider self-drive routes to quieter pans and eastern sections of the park to avoid the busier central camps during peak months.