Today is devoted to birding and game viewing in the famous Etosha National Park, which surrounds an enormous salt pan that is the size of the Netherlands. Once the summer rains arrive, the vast salt pans are turned into seasonal lakes that attract thousands of migratory and wetland birds.
As you will have your own driver/guide, you have the flexibility of discussing preferred routings and travelling times with him each day, with picnic lunch included. However we recommend setting off early each morning as soon as the park gates open after sunrise, to take advantage of the best game viewing conditions of the day, with all game drives taken in his vehicle.
The vast Etosha Pan offers magnificent game viewing opportunities - including springbok, oryx, black-faced impala, roan, cheetah and the Damara dik-dik, Namibia’s smallest antelope. A series of waterholes throughout the park guarantees rewarding game viewing, with Etosha being renowned for its vast array of plains game and its 'great cats' which are more easily seen on the open pans. With over 100 different species of mammals and reptiles in this park, you can hope to see lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, cheetah, giraffe, kudu, sable antelope, warthogs, baboons and many other interesting animals.
Etosha is also home to 340 different bird species, about a third of which are migratory. These includes the colourful Lilac-breasted roller, Greater and Lesser flamingos and 35 raptors - ranging from the Bateleur, Tawny eagle, Martial eagle, Goshawk and Lapped-faced, White-backed and Hooded vultures to the tiny Pygmy Falcon. Namibian specials include the Bare-cheeked babbler, Violet wood hoopoe, Carp’s tit, Monterio’s hornbill, Rockrunner and Rüppel’s parrot. You can also see the world’s largest bird, the Ostrich and the heaviest flying bird, the Kori bustard. Eight owl species can be spotted after sunset.
Also look out for the Blue crane, Swainson's spurfowl, Red-crested korhaan, Double-banded courser, Spotted thick-knee, Secretarybird, Spotted eagle-owl, Meyer’s parrot, Sabota lark, Spike-heeled lark, Pink-billed lark, Red-capped lark, Clapper lark, Southern White-crowned shrike, Crimson-breasted shrike, Red-backed shrike, Lesser grey shrike, White-crested helmetshrike, Black-faced babbler, Southern pied babbler, Wattled starling, Long-billed pipit, Grassveld pipit, Marico sunbird, Scarlet-chested sunbird, White-bellied sunbird, Melba finch, Scaly-feathered finch, Yellow-bellied eremomela, Burnt-necked eremomela, Chestnut weaver, Blue waxbill, Golden-breasted bunting, Paradise whydah and Shaft-tailed whydah. We may see up to 12 different duck species including the White-backed duck, Hottentot teal and South African shelduck.
In the evening enjoy a beautiful African sunset and the pristine stars of the Milky Way as you have never seen them before – including the spectacular Southern Cross.
Note: Vehicles are not allowed to drive off-road in any national park in Namibia.