Etosha National Park

Etosha National Park covers 22,270 km² of northwestern Namibia and is centred on the Etosha Pan — a vast, flat, saline depression covering approximately 4,800 km², approximately 130 km long and 50 km wide. The pan is the remnant of a lake that dried up due to geological and climatic changes; during the rainy season, it receives shallow flooding that attracts hundreds of thousands of flamingos and other waterbirds.

The park was proclaimed a game reserve in 1907 by the German colonial administration, making it one of the oldest protected areas in Africa. It achieved national park status in 1958 and was progressively extended and fenced to its current boundaries. Etosha is one of the best-managed and most accessible national parks in Africa, with an extensive network of tar and gravel roads navigable by standard 2WD vehicles.

Etosha's ecology is driven by the pan. During the dry season (May to October), animals are drawn to waterholes distributed around the pan's edge and throughout the park. The concentration of prey at these fixed water points creates exceptional opportunities for predator sightings. Three of the park's main rest camps — Okaukuejo, Halali and Namutoni — have floodlit waterholes that allow wildlife viewing from sunset until midnight.

The park is home to both black and white rhino. Black rhino are most frequently seen at the Okaukuejo floodlit waterhole after dark — one of the most reliable black rhino sighting locations in the world. The Etosha black rhino population, estimated at approximately 150 individuals (2024), represents a significant proportion of Namibia's total population.