Sunday, July 26, 2009

Africa Etosha

By Andrew Keet

A direct translation of the word Etosha into the English language means Great White Place, a fitting description of the vast ancient white, salt pans in the Kalahari Basin of southern Africa. The floor of this huge basin is made up of dry, dusty clay and salt and seldom sees water and then for only brief periods of time and has been dated at more than a billion years old.

A large variety of African wildlife inhabit the Etosha and is home to large numbers of zebra, rhino (black and white), cheetah, leopard, caracal, elephant, kudu, wildebeest and giraffe, amongst many, many others. This ancient remnant of Africa is inhabited by almost 400 bird species with the endangered blue crane been counted in amongst them.

Salt pans of this size are rare in the world and one of the places a person can view and experience one of them is at the Etosha National Park in Namibia, Africa, which covers an impressive 22 000 square kilometres. Most tour packages offered by the tourism industry of Namibia offer packages that include a visit to this awe inspiring natural wonderland.

Etosha is bordered by fantastic perennial springs that are frequented by an abundant variety of wildlife including an impressive array of birds. This area of Africa is best visited during the cooler winter months between May and September as summers can be oppressively hot. The watering holes in the Etosha National Park are lit during the evenings and early mornings as to give the discreet onlookers a better view of the wildlife that visit them.

The tourist facilities at the National Park are excellent and include three camps, a restaurant, a shop, a swimming pool, and many more comfortable conveniences. Recently, a luxury lodge has also been opened right inside the park for visitors seeking an even more elegant safari experience.

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