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The Etosha National Park of Namibia
The south-western African country Namibia offers a wide variety of national parks. The most important and the most beautiful one of them is the Etosha National Park. Different from most other national parks in Namibia, the Etosha National Park is located in the central northern part of the country, whereas the other ones touch the western coastline of Namibia.
Founded in 1907 by a german governor, its area consists of 22.000 square kilometres, 5.000 of which are part of the so called Etosha pan. The Etosha pan mainly consists of white salt which as a whole is even spottable from space. Since Etosha means “grand white place”, it is obvious where the name of the park derives from.
The basic intention of the creation of this national park was to protect wildlife. By that time, elephants had completely disappeared in the area, but the protection worked efficiently and nowadays arond 1.500 elephants live in the Etosha National Park. These animals are accompanied by giraffes, rhinoceroses, leopards, lions and a huge number of other species. The amount of different types of birds is also almost countless.
Many watering holes have been created, others occured naturally, so it is an easy task for every visitor to watch the animals from close range when visiting the Etosha National Park. The western part of the park can be crossed via car, the eastern part may only be entered under the guidance of a professional guide. Although actually it is forbidden to leave the car, some mortal accidents have occurred in the park.
Since the borders of the park are marked with fences, the animals living in the park are not able to leave the park. This results in a high density of all kinds of animals. Therefore the park has become more and more popular for tourists, leading to more than 200.000 visitors per year.
Plans for the future of the Etosha National Park include extending the protected area. Even more tourists could then find delight, entertainment and captivation in one of the most interesting national parks of Africa.
