Kalkheuwel

Kalkheuwel was a pleasant surprise again after we found this waterhole not in use last year. It was Kalkheuwel as we knew if from earlier visits, with something going on all the time, its best light in the early morning. We spent quite some time here, making sure we were the first to arrive in order to take up 'pole position', and then simply sit down and wait. We were amply rewarded. Three Lionesses were hanging around one morning, the road to the waterhole gave us some lovely views of a Steenbok. A young Gabar Goshawk was clearly a resident, the Pigeons unconcerned by his presence. The he suddenly does grab a Pigeon, way too big for him, but the Pigeon is nevertheless wounded and seems to be dying. Still, this larger bird, possibly attacked in error or in play, is not seen by the Gabar as actual prey, and abandoned, probably to be eaten by somebody else. Kalkheuwel was where, after many years of hoping and waiting, we first saw Eland. And they also show themselves this time, on two mornings we see the same group of four slowly coming down to the trough to have a drink, all equally elegant, sharing the waterhole with Impala, Zebra and Kudu.

On our way back from Kalkheuwel after an afternoon visit, Marike spots a Lion just off the road in some thickets to our left. I reverse and indeed, no more than 10 m from the road a Lioness lies in the shade to the right of a small tree, and to its left lies the carcass of a Zebra. The entrails have been eaten out, so it can't be a really fresh kill, must have been last night or early in the morning. I check: there's not a single track that indicates that another car has stopped here recently, so Marike must have been the very first to spot this kill, even though it lies so close to the roadside! But it now gets a lot of attention: within a matter of minutes the road becomes quite nicely congested.

Groot Okevi

Groot Okevi, as well as the nearby Klein Okevi, were visited several times, but didn't offer many sightings worthy of mention here. But you never now, so you continue to check.  Always a good thing to do, and with several cars already parked there, you know something is going on. Lions - some 14 or 15 of them, still sleepy, hanging around in small clumps, every now and then one or two trudge lazily down to the water for a sip. Actually, it's a bit of a boring sight, much more interesting are the numerous small birds of different species hanging around in the trees around the waterhole, evidently waiting for the Lions to go away so they can drink in peace. When the Lions finally do, they swoop en masse at the water.

Koinachas

As usual, Koinachas wasn't very productive. But then one early morning, a couple of huge male Lions cross the main road in its direction, we take the short bumpy road to the waterhole and as the Lions come up they pass right by the car, not taking a drink, but continuing on towards the Pan and possibly the large pride that's hanging around in the general area of the two Okevi's.

Fisher Pan

The Pan holds surprisingly little water, Etosha hasn't had such good rains as much of the rest of Namibia. The little water that remains can in fact be seen to diminish by the day during our six nights at Namutoni. So, just a few Flamingo's in the distance, but we do meet the agile little Kittlitz plover.

Klein Namutoni

The light at Klein Namutoni is worthless in the morning, but develops into full gold in the late afternoon. This is where we end most of our days, leaving when the light starts to fail, thus avoiding the worst of the 'gate rush' and the following congestion at the showers. In that golden light a group of some 30 Elephants come rushing in for a drink, they churn up the waterhole and the muddy stench is quite something. After having splashed about, tiny young in their midst, they start their dust-bath. Having by now chosen a lower position on the hill, the sun turns the grey dust red. They then head back to the waterhole, so do I, and the position now chosen is right at the edge of their eventual point of exit.

Some clearly show mild irritation at our closeness, but the line of rocks separating the parking lot from wild space is well respected. After the Elephants have left, the dozens of Giraffe that frequent Klein Namutoni every afternoon return to drink, having moved off when the Elephants arrived. One male shows a particular interest in a female, following her, sniffing her hind parts, trying to mount her. However, she continues to take just that crucial little step forward every time he tries to do so. Until finally.......the MD4 motordrive rattles off a quick succession of shots, it's over within two seconds, amazingly fast for such large animals. Then, as light starts to fade, another group of Elephant come literally charging up to the waterhole.