20.-21.03.14, Ongava Game Reserve and Etosha National Park again
The following morning’s trip in the Ongava reserve was less successful. The rhinos ran away and a lion we were tracking eluded us. The German group actually did better in the Etosha park seeing some lions and less other tourists than the day before. In the afternoon we tried again and did have good sightings of rhinos again including one with a young calf. There was a threatening storm approaching producing a beautiful rainbow, but luckily we remained dry. That evening there were independence day celebrations put on by the lodge staff who dressed up in the local costumes of the various tribes from whence thy came.
For my last day I did go to the Etosha park again and hoping it would be better than the first time. The pan did contain a little water but does not seem to attract any animals. Perhaps this water is too salty for them. The first sighting was of the Namibian species of impala which is slightly larger and rarer than the usual one seen frequently in Botswana. I was then at one point surrounded by a heard of over a thousand springbok and afterwards saw some warthogs and a boomslang snake at the side of the road. This would have interested my grandson who likes snakes as well as rhinos and crocodiles. Later the attractions were: a lion sleeping under a tree, a kori bustard and in the distance a solitary male elephant covered in dried mud to protect itself from the sun.