Day 27 - Cheetahs and more

Usakos to Etosha Wildlife Park, Halali Campsite

Our goal for today was Etosha Wildlife Park – another of the "must see" attractions in Namibia.

Along the way we diverted to visit the Cheetah Conservation Reserve, which K had her heart set on seeing. Once again we had our own tour leader as we went on a mini safari to find cheetahs. The cheetahs we were looking for had been orphaned at birth and reared in such a way that they are comfortable with humans (although not in close proximity – we weren’t allowed to leave the jeep, as they would run off). So unfortunately they can’t really be called “wild” animals, and can't be released to the wild (although they have many others at the park that can) as being orphaned and brought up by humans they have not learnt any  survival or hunting instincts from their mother. We then witnessed feeding time – which was a good chance to see how fast they are!

We then drove on to Etosha. After heading through the gate into the park, M said something about the lack of animals and how he wanted his money back (we had been there less than five minutes mind you) – then around the very next bend we were greeted by giraffes standing on the side of the road! Another few minutes and the plains were teeming with wildlife - giraffes, zebras, and antelopes. As we drove the 70km to our campsite for the night, we didn't see much else though - it seemed all of the wildlife was concentrated in a small area..

We chose the Halali camping site about 70km into the park, as it had a floodlit waterhole. However after two nocturnal visits all we came across was mosquitoes. Hopefully we will see more tomorrow on our self drive safari – we pretty much have the whole day to track something down!