Etosha National Park

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.