Safari in Etosha Central

incredible wildlife clustering around the waterholes

At 22,270 square kilometres, Etosha National Park is an enormous and well known wildlife reserve in northcentral Namibia.

Etosha Central is one of four sub-areas of the Etosha area. It covers the whole of the eastern side of the national park.

This eastern side of the national park contains most of the main waterholes and is by far the most productive area for wildlife viewing.

The wildlife viewing around some of the waterholes in this area can be extraordinary. Nowhere else in Africa can you see so many iconic species in one place and so close up. It can be remarkable for photography.

Unfortunately this is also by far the most busy part of Etosha and carries the vast majority of the vehicle traffic.

The accommodation options consist of three massive and very low quality restcamps, Okaukuejo Resort, Halali Resort and Namutoni Resort, as well as the much smaller but similarly unreliable Onkoshi Resort.

We tend to recommend staying in this area extremely rarely. It is usually preferable to stay in the provide reserves in the surrounding areas and raid into here as and when required.

For self-drive trips around Namibia we most commonly recommend combining a lodge in each of the Etosha East and Etosha South areas.

If you are planning a flying safari which includes Etosha, then you will most likely stay at a lodge in the Etosha South area.

If you are visiting on the way back from a guided safari in the remote northwest of the country then you are more likely to stop in this Etosha West area, possibly adding one of Etosha East or Etosha South.

we generally try to avoid staying here