A ctually, you can expect good game viewing in Etosha at any time of the year, but wintertime is exceptional for several reasons. It stopped raining a few months ago, so the veld is dry by now and the game must visit the waterholes to drink, which increases your chances of seeing the big cats that hunt their prey. The summer grass has faded to yellow, and is flattened by countless hooves, making visibility excellent for spotting prey and predators, and all the smaller creatures that delight and surprise and the weather is so pleasant in winter that you could even swim in the pools at the camps!
But let’s pause for a moment to consider. While Namibia is truly a big-cat country, with enough space and uninhabited areas for these magnificent creatures to still roam free, nowhere will you have a better chance of seeing lions, leopards and cheetahs in their natural environment than in Etosha.
You do have a chance of sighting cheetahs on the gravel roads that criss-cross the country. You might even be lucky enough to spot a leopard crossing the road at night, as I have done. On an organised trip, if time and resources allow, you could also gain a glimpse into the lives of the legendary desert lions – an extraordinary opportunity for a few. But for the best value and chances of sightings in winter, Etosha is the place to be.
So where will you find big cats to photograph? All the camps in Etosha are equally good for game viewing most of the year round, so perhaps two nights in each would give you a variety of opportunities and backdrops.
Entering at Anderson’s Gate, first up is Okaukuejo. This area is renowned for good lion sightings, as well as for encountering cheetah.
Moving east to HALALI, you’ll find beautiful areas of vast open plains bordered by thick stands of Acacia nebrownii providing habitat for all the big cats.
More than 20 years ago I witnessed a leopard trying to catch birds in a nest in the dead tree that stood in the middle of Goas waterhole. The tree fell down soon afterwards and there’s no longer a bird or beast to tell the tale! Of course, that was before my interest in photography grew and my camera was in the boot of the car…
When you continue east towards Namutoni, your first stop (and this must be as early as possible) should be Batia waterhole, which was closed for a long time due to roads that had been washed away. On our first visit there since being re-opened, we came upon a mother cheetah and her two big cubs. We watched an amusing scene unfold as the young cubs tried to hunt a warthog but ended up being chased themselves!
Now that you know where to start looking, here are a few things to remember when planning your photographic trip.
Big cats are amongst the iconic species symbolising Africa and its wildlife. They play an essential role in maintaining ecosystems, and by conserving them in their natural habitat, we protect other animal and plant species. The populations of all these cats are declining rapidly due to uncontrolled human population expansion and the resulting encroachment on their habitat, which reduces their natural prey. Poaching, disease, unsustainable hunting, and persecution by farmers and herders are just some of the many challenges they face today.
I often say that we visit the parks to enjoy all the wildlife there, and I mean exactly that, because there is such beauty to be found in the smaller creatures, not least of all the birds, and in the great variety of trees, grasses and flowering plants, but when I recently had the opportunity to spend three hours watching three leopards, I realised that this is the ultimate thrill and privilege and probably the reason why I return again and again to the bush, and especially to Etosha. I simply don’t want to imagine our big-cat country without these majestic, intelligent creatures, and neither should you.
Etosha’s lions are one of only a few African populations considered to be free of FIV (feline immuno-deficiency virus), canine distemper and tuberculosis.
We no longer have the luxury of time when it comes to big cats. They are in such a downward spiral that if we hesitate now, we will be responsible for extinctions across the globe. If there was ever a time to take action, it is now.
-Dereck Joubert
This article was published in the Winter 2014 edition of Travel News Namibia.
2 Comments
Luck is certainly key. On two visits I have never seen lions near Okendeka or Sueda areas. But was stunned to get loads of females and a few males at Klein Namutoni. Other than that, on first trip saw pair of lions mating near Dolomite and male at Okakuejo waterhole in the evening; one distant leopard from Dolomite. Hope for more on trip next year.
Thanks, for this interesting article Annabelle. Another informative website for Etosha for the dry but rainy season as well can be found here: https://www.besttime2travel.com/etosha