Submitted by SafariADV on Tue, 2017-10-10
This morning we get up early, have breakfast and go back to the Moringa pond to see if we are as lucky as last night, but today, apart from some birds, nobody comes to the puddle; but this is how safaris are, you never know what you can see, where and when.
We go back to our car and depart, we leave Halali; today we explore the part of the Etosha National Park that is between Halali and Okaukuejo; therefore we exit from the Halali's entrance and head West.
Along the way, we see several zebras, red hartebeests, some giraffes and a myriad of springboks.
The first puddle where we stop today is Rietfontein, here we see several herbivores, but, close to some trunks of dead trees, we see two clearer shapes; they are two lionesses!
They are there sitting in the shadows and looking around, they do not seem to be particularly intent on hunting, but are still alert over all that's happening around them.
We look at them a bit in the hope they move, but it is starting to warm up and they will surely stay there until tonight.
We go ahead on our way, we see the Salvadora and Charitsaub ponds, but we do not see anything noteworthy; so we drive to Sueda, here there is a source of water and wonderful very choreographic saline formations; the water is too salty for the animals so you can never see them going around here.
We then go to the Aus puddle, where there are several wonderful kudus coming just when we arrive, they are very hesitant but approaching the water for drinking; there are also several oryxes and some warthogs.
But what attracts our attention, and almost hypnotizes us, is an immense flock of birds that flies continuously near the puddle, then sets off, but only for a few moments and then starts again, creating a wonderful choreography in the sky, what a show!
We go to Olifantsbad, famous for being the pond of elephants, but of the gigantic pachyderms there is not even the shadow, no one has seen them, not even those who have been there for more than an hour; we stay there a bit too but they do not arrive, probably today they went somewhere else.
We stop at a picnic area, closed by a gate to prevent animals from entering, we pull out our chairs and our table and eat in the shadow of a mopane tree.
After lunch, we continue our exploration and see the Gemsbokvlakte and Newbrownie ponds, but, besides zebras, springboks and wildebeests, we do not see much.
We go to Okaukuejo to do some shopping and take a photo of the tower, that was built by the Germans during the colonial period, and then we take the road leading to the Andersson Gate; tonight our camping is off the park.
The warm sunlight, that is already coming down to the horizon, illuminates the road and we drive looking around, you never know where you can spot something and in fact, at some point, we see two animals crossing the road a little further than where we are; we recognize them immediately, their silhouette is unmistakable: they are lions!
We approach, they are two lionesses heading to a small hill that is a short distance away; we just take a moment to get some photos and then see them disappear in the bushes; they are too beautiful and fascinating when they walk so sinuously.
We are halfway to the gate and on our left we see a family of elephants; they are 14 and there are several puppies; finally!
How nice to see that there are puppies, they give hope to this species; they walk in the high grass but we are located just below where the grass is lower and there are fewer shrubs so we can see them better; they are far away, but you clearly see that they walk in a quiet pace, but always wary, especially because they have the little ones.
In the end, our best sightings of the day were made on the way to the exit; you never know where animals can be seen, this is the beauty of safari, nothing can be taken for granted.
Happy and satisfied, with the sun setting to our right, we exit the gate, where there is an anti-poaching team with dogs inspecting the cars, and we go to our campsite tired but happy and satisfied.
