5- Etosha part II

And the next day was just as impressive as the previous ones, but it brought nothing new. We were still enjoying the mammals and the great diversity of birds in the park, in which I would like to highlight the great variety of species of bustards, korhaans and coursers, among others.

From the top left corner: Red-crested korhaan female (Lophotis ruficrista), Southern black korhaan male (Afrotis afra), Ludwig's bustard (Neotis ludwigii),Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori); one of the heaviest birds, double-banded courser (Rhinoptilus africanus), Namaqua sandgrouse (Pterocles namaqua), grey go-away-bird (Corythaixoides concolor), pied crow (Corvus albus), cardinal woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens) and pale chanting goshawk (Melierax canorus)

We had already travelled a few hundred kilometres into the park. We saw the odd red hartebeest, the lions and the elephants again. And we had to follow a big male who had decided to use the road as a path, forming a caravn of cars behind, but unlike the traffic jams in big cities, here none of us had any complaints.

Left: Traffic jam due to the elephant. Right: Elephant footprint.

We went back to the campsite to make another braai. I was already becoming an expert in making braais with the help of Master Viktor. After dinner we went to the bar to try the amarula, a liquor made from the marula fruit and with a flavor similar to Bayleys. If you are curious to try it, it is available in some supermarkets in Spain like Carrefour.

Viktor had been sleeping outdoors all these days, as he preferred to sleep outside rather than crowded in the tents. The night before, something had woken him up in the middle of the night.

And the same thing happened that night, but on this night he decided to warn us.

And that's how we discovered other thieves, who filled the campsite with life at night while we all slept, and made that night one of the best experiences of the trip in my opinion.

It was a honey badger (Mellivora capensis) climbing trees to search through the rubbish.

We followed him for quite a while. I had left in a hurry, barefoot and in my pyjamas, and Adri,only wearing his underwear. Despite the bad temper these animals have, he didn't pay any attention to us. And it wasn't only him who was eating leftover food. There were also dik-dik, duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) and even a scrub hare (Lepus saxatilis) prowling around.

From the top left corner: honey badger, duiker and dik-dik eating onion skin.

We keep going around. And we heard the sound of hoofbeats hitting the ground, as if there were horses or zebras nearby. We thought they'd be near the camp.

Walking and walking, we heard them closer until we saw a leg and looked up.

We had a giraffe 3 meters away. And it wasn't just one, there was a mother and her calf roaming around the tents and three other giraffes outside. It was amazing, one of those breathtaking things. Having the tallest animal in the world in front of you and you hadn't even noticed.

And all this was happening while everyone else was sleeping. I got a cut on my foot from that walk, too. But it was worth it. We went to sleep with a smile on our faces and the excitement all over.

The next morning we had another surprise. We saw a group of lions eating a rhinoceros. Alive. They couldn't kill it, and they were eating it while it was still conscious, starting from the hindquarters. It was a rather cruel image, which detracted from the respect I have for felines for killing their prey quickly before eating it.

Until he died, it was a time of considerable distress. But it's impossible to deny that it was an amazing sight. Nature is harsh. That's why I rely on each one's sensitivity to skip over the next images.

The rest of the day went very well, but after that scene nothing could compare. And on the way back, that was gonna be the last night we slept at that campsite.

And at that exit door were some hymba women selling souvenirs. Hymbas are the African tribe of the Kunene region, where women decorate their hair with clay and wear only skirts.

So the girls started bargaining with these women and we got some gifts at a good price. It was a very contrasting image to see these women with smartphones in their hands.

The night was quieter again, and we still had a day and a half to go. We headed back to the entrance gate of the park for the remaining day and a half, when we no longer had to leave the reserve.

We went over to check on the rhino carcass. The Rangers had cut off the rhino's horns during the night, to avoid problems with poaching. The lions were still there, but there was also an elephant and another black rhino drinking from the little pond next to it. Three of the Big Five in one place, in one picture.

And that day we also visited Etosha's pan, which was also incredible in terms of landscape. Nothing but white soil everywhere as far as the eye could see, and mirages on the horizon. They were not animals, but it was another thing that defined my trip to Etosha.

And that same day at night was our best chance to see another of the Big Fives and the only one left to see on the reserve, since they had no buffalo; the leopard. We had another braai as usual, and we saw again the honey badgers thieves, who in this campsite acted earlier and in a totally efficient and coordinated way. Some experts in burglary.

And we took everything we needed to spend the night waiting in the pond next to the campsite, which was set up for that purpose. Four rhinos came to visit us, two of them mother and calf. It was very curious to see the distrustful behavior of these great titans who, a priori, should not be afraid of anything, and even more curious were the sounds made by rhino calves.

They also came to drink some hyenas, one of them was limping and looked wounded.

And with fatigue, everyone fell asleep except Alba and me. And at three o'clock in the morning and with no animals appearing for a long time, we decided to give ourselves some rest and go to sleep. In the end only Viktor was left there, until dawn, when we went back to see if at the first lights any animals were coming to drink. But none had come in since we left at three o'clock.

At dawn only a very large group of guineafowls came to the pond, which looked like an army ready to invade us, with their funny way of running. But nothing else came in. And that's how safaris work, and that's part of the beauty of safaris, that you don't see everything, that it's not a zoo where you can go and see everything at a distance, although there are some places and animals that do follow the same pattern and are almost certain to be seen, and that's what normal people like, to be able to see them very easily. And as Viktor says, "so you have to come again".

We also spent the morning driving around on the safari, to see if we could see cheetahs, another animal that we really wanted to meet. And we didn't see it, but what did happen was also a moment of those who mark you. There was an elephant in front of us and we could not go back, so we moved aside with the car and we were silent, waiting for it to happen. Almost holding our breath, the huge male passed by two meters from the car and, if he had wanted to, he could have destroyed it with amazing ease.

And with that great moment, we went to eat at another campsite that was on our way and this one had striped mongooses as animals accustomed to people. We talked, ate and had a great time, but the only thing left was to return to the capital.

But before leaving the park, we stopped at a waterhole where there were several ducks and raptorial birds, such as a bateleur and several vultures.

Left: white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and lappet-faced vulture (Torgos tracheliotos) feeding on a kudu carcass.

Right: Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus)

After a long and complicated trip at dusk because of the difficulty of driving at night in this country. Some roads are not well signposted lanes, there are strong winds that carry dust and decrease visibility... But we managed to arrive safe and sound, have dinner at Joe's Beerhouse and go to AirBnB to sleep. And the next day was the saddest thing of all, the farewell. One of the saddest for me after such a precious and fun time, saying goodbye to my friends and my girlfriend and heading back south to KumKum. This time it would be a solo trip.