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11OntheTrail
Exploring Namibia’s legendary wildlifephotography destination during its harshest and most demanding time
HEREGOOGLE EARTH COORDINATES HERE
Exploring Namibia’s legendary wildlifephotography destination during its harshest and most demanding time
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK - THE DRY SEASON
THE GREATTHIRST
ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK - THE DRY SEASON
THE GREATTHIRST
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An endless expanse of dusty whiterocks under an impossibly blue sky
A typical Etosha landscape during the dry season.On the opening spread, a lioness Panthera leo
waits for thirsty Springbok Antidorcas marsupialis and a lone Wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus
to approach a waterhole.
13
ne of Africa’s - and indeed thewhole world’s - most famous protectedareas looks at first sight like a parched,blinding landscape from an aliendesert world. The bright blue canopyof the sky stretching above, unmarred;the flat, cracked, dust-white soil fadinginto the trembling horizon, shimmeringwith scorching heatwaves; brightwhite, ashy dry bushes and small trees,clawing at nothing with their skeletalbranches everywhere. And yet, there isan impossible beauty in this forbidding
landscape, this land of extremes, thisbone-dry bowl of sand and dust - theland of the great thirst, Namibia’slegendary National Park during thedry and rainless season, Etosha. It liesin northwestern Namibia, spanningover an area of 22,270 squarekilometres (8,600 sq mi), and it gets itsname from the large Etosha pan (asalty, desert-like featureless depression,almost devoid of animal life), which isalmost entirely within the Park. Thename Etosha comes from Oshindonga
OTEXT BY ANDREA FERRARI
PHOTOS BY ANDREA & ANTONELLA FERRARI
continued on page 15 ›
ElephantsLoxodonta africanain Etosha get their
unmistakable whitishshade from the dust
which permeateseverything during the dry season.
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Plains orBurchell's zebraEquus quagga,formerly Equusburchellii, twostags fighting at a waterhole.
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word meaning “Great White Place”referring to the Etosha pan, which withits 4,760 square kilometres (1,840 sqmi) covers 23% of the area of the totalarea of the Etosha National Park. ThePark is a spectacular home to hundredsof species of mammals, birds andreptiles, including several threatenedand severely endangered species suchas the Black rhinoceros Dicerosbicornis. The Park is located in theKunene region, and shares boundarieswith the regions of Oshana, Oshikotoand Otjozondjupa. Etosha has asavanna desert climate, with an annualmean average temperature of 26 °C.
continued on page 17 ›
Ostrich Struthiocamelus and SpringbokAntidorca marsupialis
in a typicallyscorchingly hot and
arid Etosha landscape.
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Etosha is oneof the laststrongholds of the severelythreatened Black rhinocerosor Hook-lippedrhinocerosDiceros bicornis.Here a beautifulmale sprays abush with urineto marks itsterritory.
Male African lion
Panthera leo.
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In winter, the mean low temperaturesare in the 6 °C neighborhood, but insummer they can exceed 45 °C.There is a huge daily thermalvariation, and in some years, and insome places, there is no rain at all.When there is rain, however, dryrivers quickly come to life. The Parkhas about 114 mammal species, 340bird species, 110 reptile species, 16amphibian species and 1 species offish (the number however rockets upto 49 species of fish during floods).The salt pans are the most noticeablegeological features in the EtoshaNational Park. The main depression -the legendary Etosha pan - is roughly130 km (81 mi) long and as wide as50 km (31 mi) in places. Thehypersaline conditions of the pan limitthe species that can permanentlyinhabit the pan itself; occurrences ofextremophile micro-organisms arepresent, which species can tolerate
continued on page 20 ›
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EtoshaNational Park is very rich inbird species.Left, Northernblack korhaanAfrotisafraoides; top right, Red-billed spurfowlor Red-billedfrancolinPternistisadspersus;bottom right,Swainson'sFrancolinPternistisswainsonii.
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Two lionesses Panthera leo andtheir cubs bask in the early morningsun with the endless expanse of the
legendary Etosha pan stretchingacross the horizon in the
background.
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the hypersaline conditions. The salt panis usually dry, but it fills with waterbriefly in the summer, attractingpelicans and flamingos in particular.During the dry season, winds blowingacross the salt pan pick up saline dustand carry it across the country and outover the southern Atlantic. This saltenrichment provides minerals to the soildownwind of the pan, on which somewildlife depends. The dolomite hills onthe southern border of the park near theAndersson entrance gate are called
continued on page 24 ›
A beautiful maleGreater KuduTragelaphusstrepsiceros.
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Left, Southernyellow-billedhornbill Tockusleucomelas.Right, Capestarling, Red-shoulderedglossy-starling orCape glossystarlingLamprotornisnitens.
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Covered incaked mud anddust, two AfricanelephantsLoxodontaafricana show the stunted, brokentusks carried by the species inEtosha and due to a calciumdeficiency in their diet.
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Far left, Pied crowCorvus albus. Left, RedhartebeestAlcelaphusbuselaphuscaama.
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Ondundozonananandana, meaning"place where young boy herding cattlewent to never return", suggesting a highdensity of predators like leopards in thehills, giving the mountains its Englishname of Leopard Hills. The Halali areais also home to dolomite hills within thepark, with one hill inside the camp andthe nearby Twee Koppies. WesternEtosha is also dominated by dolomitehills, which is the only place in the parkthat has Mountain zebra.
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
Explorers Charles John Andersson andFrancis Galton were the first Europeansto record the existence of the Etoshapan on 29 May 1851. The explorerswere traveling with Ovambo copperore traders when they arrived atOmutjamatunda (now known asNamutoni). The Etosha pan wasdiscovered when they traveled northupon leaving Namutoni. In those timesareas north of the Etosha pan wereinhabited by Ovambo people, whilevarious Otjiherero-speaking groupslived immediately outside the currentpark boundaries. The areas inside thepark close to the Etosha pan hadKhoisan-speaking Hai//om people. In1885, entrepreneur WilliamWorthington Jordan bought a hugetract of land from Ovambo chief
continued on page 31 ›
Kori bustard Ardeotis kori,a common and impressive
inhabitant of the grassysavanna environment.
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At the apex of the dry season in Etosha the waterholes arewhere the action is. Here a lionessPanthera leo, a lone Black-backedjackal Canis mesomelas and a herd of Springbok Antidorcasmarsupialis nervously share the access to water for a fewprecious minutes..
26Top left, Red-billed teal Anas erythrorhyncha; top right, Sociable weaverPhiletairus socius. Bottom left, Egyptian gooseAlopochen aegyptiacus; bottom right, Blacksmith lapwingor Blacksmith plover Vanellus armatus.
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A female African lionPanthera leo - still bloodied
from her previous nightfeeding - clearly shows her
displeasure at beingapproached.
is
Two bone-white Africanelephants Loxodontaafricana feed on dry grassunder a sullen grey sky - a squall is approaching.
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Bone-white giants standing in a surrealistic endless landscape
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Top left, European bee-eater Merops apiaster, a seasonal migrant; top right, Spotted hyenaCrocuta crocuta. Bottom left, Southern Palechanting goshawkMelierax canorus;bottom right, SteenbokRaphicerus campestris.
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The graceful SouthernPale chanting goshawkMelierax canorusis one of Etosha’s mostcommonly seen raptors.
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Kambonde. The land spanned nearly170 kilometres (110 mi) fromOkaukuejo in the west to Fischer's Panin the east. The price for the land was£300 sterling, paid for by 25 firearms,one salted horse and a cask of brandy.Dorstland Trekkers first traveledthrough the park between 1876 and1879 on their way to Angola. Thetrekkers returned in 1885 and settledon 2,500-hectare (6,200-acre) farmsgiven to them at no charge by Jordan.The trekkers named the areaUpingtonia after the Prime Minister ofthe Cape Colony. The settlement had tobe abandoned in 1886 after clasheswith the Hai||om and defeat by ChiefNehale Mpingana. The German Reichordered troops to occupy theOkaukuejo, Namutoni and Sesfonteinin 1886 in order to kill migratingwildlife to stop spread of rinderpest tocattle. A fort was built by the Germancavalry in 1889 at the site of theNamutoni spring. On 28 January1904, 500 men under NehaleMpingana attacked ImperialGermany's Schutztruppe at For tNamutoni and completely destroyed it,driving out the colonial forces and
continued on page 35 ›African elephant
Loxodonta africana.
The “white”elephants ofEtosha aredesperatelydependant onwater during the dry season,and will oftenapproachwaterholes at a joyful trot,with young onesespecially chargedwith expectation.
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An overcast sky -a welcome harbingerof the approachingrainy season - castsits dramatic shadow
over the arid,parched plains
of Etosha.
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Left, a femaleAngolan orNamibian giraffeGiraffacamelopardalisangolensis withher day-old baby;right, GreaterKudu Tragelaphusstrepsiceros andImpala Aepycerosmelampus.
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taking over their horses and cattle. Thefort was rebuilt and troops stationedonce again when the area wasdeclared a game reserve in 1907;Lieutenant Adolf Fischer of For tNamutoni then became its first "gamewarden”. The Park was proclaimed agame reserve on March 22, 1907 inOrdinance 88 by the Governor ofGerman South West Africa, Dr.Friedrich von Lindequist. I t wasdesignated as Wildschutzgebiet Nr. 2which means Game Reserve Number2, in numerical order after WestCaprivi (Game Reserve No. 1) andpreceding Namib Game Reserve (No.3). In 1958, Game Reserve No. 2became Etosha Game Park and wasfinally elevated to status of NationalPark in 1967 by an Act of Parliamentof the Republic of South Africa, whichthen administered South-West Africa.
continued on page 40 ›
A roving troop ofBanded mongooseMungos mungo.
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Top left, SpringbokAntidorcas marsupialis;
top right, Wildebeest
Connochaetes taurinus. Bottom left, Black-
backed jackal Canis mesomelas;
bottom right, Puff adderBitis arietans.
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An overcast skycarrying rain-laden,
dark clouds looms overthe arid landscape ofEtosha National Park
as the dry seasoncomes to an end.
A faraway sound of thunderheralds the coming of the rains
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Plains or Burchell'szebra Equus quagga,
formerly Equus burchellii,in the first rain of the
season; right, a stunningadult male Greater KuduTragelaphus strepsiceros.
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Africanelephants
Loxodonta africanacongregate
at waterholes in the day’s fading
light at sunset.
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AN AFRICAN EDEN FOR WILDLIFEPHOTOGRAPHY
Simply put, as a wildlife photographydestination Etosha is unique. Duringthe dry season its landscape offersspectacular chromatic contrasts, withits endless emptiness being a mainasset, the lack of water forcing wildlifeto crowd all day long - but especiallyduring early morning and in theevening - at the waterholes which dotthe savanna, mostly now artificial butquite unobtrusive. Spending a fewhours at each in patient wait willalways prove exceedingly productive,as interactions between predator andprey often occur. Accomodation androads are excellent, and the onlydifficulty is that one has to basicallybook one year in advance given thereduced capacity of the camps(another great plus - one can drive forhours without meeting another soul!).And yet, Etosha has a few moresurprises up its sleeve - we have visitedit during the wet season too (somethingwhich very few people do) and thatwill be the subject of another, futurefeature on it. You’ll be surprised! .
Left, two femaleAfrican lion Panthera
leo in the middayheat; right, the dust-caked countenance -
note the typicallystunted, splinteredtusks - of an EtoshaAfrican elephant
Loxodonta africana.
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Plains or Burchell'szebra Equus quagga,formerly Equusburchellii, quenchtheir thirst at awaterhole.
42Gemsbok Oryx gazella
and Plains or Burchell's zebraEquus quagga.
Bathed in thegolden light of the coming sunset, a herd of thirstyAfrican elephantLoxodontaafricana hurriedlyapproachesHalai’s waterhole.
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Left, AfricanelephantLoxodontaafricana; right, theseverely threatenedBlack rinocerosDiceros bicornis.
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Left, AfricanelephantLoxodontaafricana at oneof Etosha’swaterholes; right, close-upportrait of anAfrican lionPanthera leo.
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A rare lighter moment in thesun-baked plains of Etosha
Elephants love toplay in frolick inwater wherever itis available.
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Etosha National Park at itsdry-season best - parched
plains, endless skies, a lonelioness, a herd of Springbok
and a dust devil twistingsilently on the horizon.
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Two Black rhinosDiceros bicornis -threatened with man-madeextinction all overtheir range inAfrica - get theirevening drink atHalali’s waterhole.
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A group of well-fed femaleAfrican lion Panthera leo relax
in the shade after havingfeasted on a unfortunate zebra the night before.
A group of Plains orBurchell's zebra Equus quaggarun and jostle
at a waterhole.
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Left, rainbowover the Etoshaplains after alate afternoondrizzle; right,two femaleAfrican lionPanthera leoand their cubs sit by the edge of the endlessEtosha pan.
A herd of SpringbokAntidorca marsupialis keep a wary eye on a prowling
lioness Panthera leo. This female is either pregnant
or well fed from the previous night.
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Left, RedhartebeestAlcelaphusbuselaphus caama;right, Africanelephant Loxodontaafricana.
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Angolan or Namibian giraffe
Giraffa camelopardalisangolensis drinking at a
pool in the typical spread-legged posture.
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A belligerent Blackrhinoceros Diceros bicornisas it approaches Halali’s
waterhole at dusk.
Twilight - a brief time oftruces for survival’s sake
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Left, Plains orBurchell's zebraEquus quagga; right, portrait of amale African lionPanthera leo.
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A Black rhinoceros Dicerosbicornis at dusk at Halali’scamp waterhole. Etosha’sharsh light and parched
environment offer interestingopportunities for black-and-
white photography.
58Left, a trio of Gemsbok
Oryx gazella; center,Kori bustard
Ardeotis kori; right, male Greater Kudu
Tragelaphus strepsiceros.
A herd of African elephantLoxodonta africana gathers fora drink at Halali’s waterholeafter sunset. Waterholes at thecamps in Etosha are often lit all night long with floodlights,offering unique opportunities to witness interaction among - and the behavior of - manyvisiting animals.
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