Etosha
A salt pan the size of a small country, a ring of waterholes where rhino drink by floodlight, and private reserves on the park boundary with airstrips of their own.
- Arrival
- Hosea Kutako International · WDH
- To the park
- About 1 h 30 from Windhoek by light aircraft
- Private jets
- WDH or Ondangwa (OND), then light aircraft
- Best time
- May to September
The city
The great white place.
In Oshindonga, Etosha means the great white place, and the pan at its heart covers nearly a quarter of the park: 4,760 square kilometres of salt. Around it, a chain of waterholes draws elephant, lion and black rhino; the park records 114 mammal species and more than four hundred kinds of birds. The park was proclaimed in 1907 and today counts as one of the world’s most important refuges of the black rhino.
The southern winter, May to September, is dry and clear, with mild afternoons and cold nights. The rains build from November and peak in January and February, when afternoons reach the low to mid-thirties.
- Okaukuejo waterhole Floodlit after dark, so that black rhino, lion and elephant can be watched from the camp wall at night.
- Etosha Pan A white salt flat stretching to the horizon, Oshindonga’s “great white place”.
- Fischer’s Pan A smaller pan near the eastern gate, watched over from the Onguma reserve across the fence.
Arriving
Two airports and a bush strip.
Long-haul flights land at Hosea Kutako, east of Windhoek, more than four hundred kilometres from the park by paved road. Ondangwa, in the north, is closer, and the private reserves on the park boundary keep gravel strips for light aircraft.
- Luanda 1 h 50
- Johannesburg 2 h 15
- Nairobi 4 h 10
- Riyadh 7 h 55 long-range jet
- Munich 10 h 00 long-range jet
When to go
May to September.
Summer rain falls from November to March, up to 113 mm in February, with highs in the low to mid-thirties. Visit Namibia names May to September as winter: dry, pleasant days and nights that can drop below freezing.
- 33° J 95
- 31° F 113
- 30° M 79
- 31° A 26
- 28° M 3
- 26° J 1
- 26° J 0
- 29° A 0
- 33° S 2
- 35° O 8
- 34° N 43
- 35° D 56
Where to stay
On the eastern boundary.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
Elsewhere in Namibia
More reasons to come.
- Windhoek A small highland capital where most journeys into the desert begin.
- Sossusvlei Red dunes among the highest in the world, and the dead trees of Deadvlei.
- Swakopmund German façades on the Atlantic, beside the desert.
- Damaraland Ancient rock engravings, and elephants that live in the desert.
- Skeleton Coast Shipwrecks and fog where the desert meets the Atlantic.
Flying to Etosha?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.