Self-drive Etosha National Park

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
1
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
8
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
80 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
53rd/453
Top 20%
continent
Africa
country
Namibia
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$160 ($200-$400 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
September
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Driving Salt Flats Wildlife - Rhinos
All Tags
Fabulous hotel Safari Wildlife - Antelope Wildlife - Elephants Wildlife - Giraffes Wildlife - Leopards Wildlife - Lions
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐
Summary

Definitely one of the highlights of Namibia for its concentration of animals and vastness of the salt pan, but also because, even though it doesn’t have the volume of animals in somewhere like nearby Moremi or Chobe, you can very easily self-drive and, with a few tips, be able to see many of the animals you’re after

Top tips:

 

1. Self drive – tours can be great and guides can help with pointing things out, but they’re rarely as fun as doing it on your own and there is something magical about turning up at a watering hole, having it all to yourself and just staying there for as long as you want. The roads are fine (if a little bumpy at times), and the directions very clear

 

2. Plan your days carefully and prioritise the early morning and late afternoons – it’s a big park, and gets bloody hot in the middle of the day, so it’s a long tiring day driving all the way in and back, or all the way through. For most people, Etosha is part of a bigger road trip around Namibia so you’ll be passing through at some point. Our approach was to give ourselves a full day to drive through (starting at the south entrance at 7am opening and leaving the east entrance before sunset at 640pm); and then a second day for the morning session, back to chill and have lunch at the hotel, and then back for the late session. We by far preferred the second day, mainly because the early mornings / later afternoons are just so much nicer weather wise and with far more concentrations of animals

 

3. You don’t need a 4WD – roads are fine … but more comfortable in a larger 4WD

 

4. Get a map and ideally one with the photo list of animals – we picked one up at our hotel and really enhanced the experience

 

5. Recommended waterholes – you’ll see animals throughout the park but by far the biggest concentrations are at the waterholes (typically artificial bore holes). As a broad rule as well, the waterholes towards the east entrance are better than those at the south entrance. We LOVED Klein Namutoni Fountain, Koinachas, Chudop, Reitfontein, plus the viewing point at Etosha Pan Lookout (all are easy to find on Google Maps)

 

6. Where to stay – we felt like we super lucked out. For the South, we stayed at Okutala Etosha Lodge which has the most wonderful game reserve with waterhole nearby, including 9 rhinos and just about everything else you got in Etosha. For the East, Mokuti Etosha – high end, 5 star hotel. Yes it’s expensive, but it’s right at the East Entrance which allows you to come back for the chilled out lunch (there is a pool and food is great) rather than the long drive to Tsumeb.  Do it

 

7. To see how Etosha fits into a 1-2 week roadtrip for Namibia – have a look at this individual travel entry, Driving through Namibia, for plenty of tips, highlights and showing what to prioritise

Highlights
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1. Stopping by the waterholes. Sometimes there are huge varieties of herbivores there or a couple of carnivores, but even if there is nothing there is something magical about waiting their on your own in the car knowing that sooner or later the whole place will change with wildlife. Magical

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2. Driving through and being so super close to the animals

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3. The big cats

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4. The big cats . . . from a distance!

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5. Off the beaten track and finding some of the herds away from the waterholes. Typically very relaxed and the wide spaces give you a feel for the vastness of the park

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6. The Okutala Etosha Lodge just to the South of the Park itself - the waterhole with the rhinos and elephants was an experience right up there with what was in the Park

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7. The Salt Pan itself - typically you are away from the central piece, but the Etosha Pan Central Lookout gives a great view across the pan

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The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

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Score Detail

The scores you see above are really the point of this whole site, rather than just the individual travel review you're seeing above.  They fit into a much bigger summary of 20 years of travel, across 100+ countries, from dirt-poor backpacking to the luxury end, rushed weekends to months on the road.  Every one of the 500+ experiences have a "wow factor" score and a few other scores that add up to a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score.  For more info, have a look at the About page for the travel philosophy that drives them.

But, more importantly, have a play with the map above and on the Home page to see which of these experiences rank as really Maximum Wow-factor all the way down to the proper "Gash".

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