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User Reviews of Etosha National Park (141 Reviews)

Best Park Etosha Safaris Namibia
Sort By: Date Most Helpful Rating 11-20 of 141 Reviews

Average User Rating

4.6596 / 5 4.7 /5
4.7226 / 5 4.3358 / 5 4.0930 / 5 4.2523 / 5

Rating Breakdown

5 star 107 / 10 107
4 star 25 / 10 25
3 star 6 / 10 6
2 star 1 / 10 1
1 star 2 / 10 2
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Female avatar icon Bianca Namibia flag NA       Visited: September 2024 Reviewed: Sep 11, 2024

Email Bianca  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Bianca and not that of SafariBookings.

Terrible

1 / 5 1 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

I am embarrassed for my country. The roads in Etosha are horrific and a utter disaster. What impression do we leave tourists, these roads will make you buy a new car.

Male avatar icon Louwtjie South Africa flag ZA       Visited: June 2024 Reviewed: Jun 15, 2024

Email Louwtjie  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

The review below is the personal opinion of Louwtjie and not that of SafariBookings.

Roads are the worse I've ever seen

3 / 5 3 /5
3 / 5 3 / 5 3 / 5 4 / 5

I would like to know when last / if any maintenance was done to Etosha roads in the last couple of years.

Worse roads of all the game parks in Namibia.

Male avatar icon Leigh United Kingdom flag GB       Visited: July 2019 Reviewed: Aug 12, 2019

Email Leigh  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: 2-5 safaris

Happy to have been. An abundance of animals and viewing spots, barren landscape and bumpy roads.

4 / 5 4 /5
5 / 5 3 / 5 3 / 5 3 / 5

I visited the Etosha National Park from a campsite outside the main gate. Even before reaching the first Lodge inside the park I had seen two lions. The roads were quite drivable, even in a two wheeled car. There were plenty of watering holes and an abundance of animals. You really didn’t have to look too hard. I saw in addition to the lions, giraffe, rhinos, wildebeest, elephants and many others. My only criticism would be the hopelessly inadequate queueing system to buy the park entry permit. One person dealing with these requests and two other people sat idly beside her. Not their job.

Male avatar icon Andrew Thompson United Kingdom flag GB       Visited: December 2017 Reviewed: Feb 16, 2018

Email Andrew Thompson  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5

At the time of my visit at the end of the dry season, Etosha was full of animals, which were easy to see as they were drawn to the many waterholes. Bird watching was also exceptional. The quality and the quantity of the sightings far exceeded my expectation. The place never felt crowded, I always felt safe and the accommodation in the park was quite acceptable.

Male avatar icon Stefan Visited: February 2017 Reviewed: Nov 20, 2017

Email Stefan  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Don't expect too many animals during the wet season

4 / 5 4 /5
3 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 4 / 5

In general, Etosha seems to be a great park to go to. The facilities were good, camping was fun and the scenery is just lovely. As we went there in the wet season of February, Etosha was very green, with plenty of water everywhere, so finding animals was very hard, even for our nice and very experienced guides. We did end up with a few sightings though, highlighted by a young leopard, who was drinking some water in the middle of the road. We saw plenty of giraffes, ostriches and springbok, but the rhinos were unfortunately hiding! It was fun to spot birds and also smaller animals like honey badgers, even though hard when the car was moving. I can definitely recommend going there, but would personally try again in dry season!

Female avatar icon Saleha Ullah United Kingdom flag GB       Visited: September 2017 Reviewed: Nov 18, 2017

Email Saleha Ullah  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

A truly fantastic safari experience with a variety of wildlife in a natural setting

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5 5 / 5
I was incredibly impressed with the wildlife that we came across during our game drives in Etosha National Park, which included many lions, zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hyenas, wildebeest, birds of prey and so much more. I arrived hoping to see at least one lion, but managed to see over 20 in the three days that we were there, including lions with a kill and lionesses with their cubs which was a real highlight.

The Okaukuejo waterhole was an absolute delight and only a short walking distance of the Okaukuejo rest camp where we stayed. The setting was surreal, it was like watching a live theatre show with a steady stream of animals and birds constantly arriving to bathe and drink just a few metres away. I could happily sit and watch the wildlife come and go all day long just in this one spot. At night the waterhole is floodlight, so we could continue viewing in the dark and was surprised by the number of animals that came to visit throughout the evening, including
Read more a number of rhinos with their young. This was ideal, as we were able to extend our safari experience after our games drives in a relaxed environment.

The campsite facilities were great. We had access to a small outdoor kitchen, which made food preparation a lot easier. Shower facilities were also of a high standard.
Female avatar icon Huali United States flag US       Visited: August 2016 Reviewed: Sep 28, 2016

Email Huali  |  50-65 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

A wildlife paradise

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5

First and foremost, the types of wildlife I saw in Etosha Park were greatly varied. To list, there were many zebras, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, kudu, springbok, steenbok, wildebeest, red hartebeest, oryx, and ostriches. As it was wintertime, there was a scarcity of water around the park, so it was easy to see lots of animals gathered at the watering holes. I was told that there are also many leopards and lions in the park, but as I only spent two days there, I did not have enough time to see them.

I stayed at Halali camp, which was at the center of the park. It was at a good location with a waterhole nearby, but the rooms, especially the bathroom facilities, were old. I heard from others that there are better accommodations near the entrances of the park.

The park offers "game drives" twice a day, for 3 hours, for 500 Namibian dollars. These are very convenient, and you can make reservations for them upon arrival.

Female avatar icon s_andreja Slovenia flag SI       Visited: June 2016 Reviewed: Aug 15, 2016

Email s_andreja  |  35-50 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

The Lion King scene ... without the lion

5 / 5 5 /5
4 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 / 5
Have you seen the Lion King animated movie?
Well, in Etosha you have a feeling you are in that movie, right on the scene.
The sheer vastness of the place and number of animals is amazing. Meaning also that after a few days, a simple oryx is not enough for you to pause, now you are only for the lion. But (fortunately) he did not know that and decided to stay in distance ...

Self-drive makes Etosha not just another (giant) zoo, but rather a self-organized adventure.
'Chasing' animals in a car around the park and waterholes is one thing. However, standing still and observing animals from the camp is entirely different (and much more rewarding) experience.
I would recommend anyone to take the time and spend the night in one of the camps in Etosha. I was not the only one amazed. At sunset and sundown, you could see 50+ people gathered at the fence, watching a couple of animals doing their daily routine. All this without any noise, except
Read more for the clicking of cameras (some with 600 mm zoom).

I stayed in Etosha for 3 nights (2 in Okaukuejo, 1 in Namutoni) and can say the following:
o Okaukuejo - a definite must, always full of all sorts of animals and with great position to see the sunset; very busy, so staff did not really try to be friendly
o Halali (did not stayed for the night) looked more pristine, but smaller and without the big animals (when I was there)
o Nakamutoni - friendly staff, but otherwise a dissapointment due to facilities not maintained and pratically no animals (no real waterhole).
Apparently there are now 2 camps also in the western part of Etosha (previously closed for tourists), but have not tried those.

In order to explore Etosha, you do not need a local guide, GPS or a map (available at camps) is enough.
However, there are organized safari trips at night that might be worth trying (you are not allowed to go outside the camp at night on your own).
Male avatar icon darthdracir Switzerland flag CH       Visited: June 2016 Reviewed: Aug 7, 2016

Email darthdracir  |  20-35 years of age  |  Experience level: first safari

Once in a lifetime

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 5 / 5 / 5
So there you are, one day watching David Attenborough on your TV, the other day getting into the wild yourself, and what an experience it is. I traveled with my girlfriend around Namibia with the help of an accommodated tour, and of course that the main stop would be Etosha. I think winter is the high season, but we did not feel the crowd, the over touristic scene, everything was just good scenery, good weather and a good time. In two days of safari we easily spotted all the must see animals, expect the illusive leopard. Our guide just had an eye for it, he actually told us that when he was young he would hunt with his family riding the pick up in the dark, so pretty much nothing would escape his boosted eyesight, he would always be the first to spot everything! We didn't opt for the camping, instead we stayed in lodges, both would be a great option I think. Facilities often had swimming pools, great food, everything. I can only recommend Namibia as a country to visit. Although I've
Read more never done any other safari, I got the impression by researching and discussing with friends that this is the place to go nowadays, every condition for your wild trip with one of the best prices, in one of the safest places on Africa.
Male avatar icon TrainsandTravel France flag FR       Visited: April 2016 Reviewed: May 9, 2016

Email TrainsandTravel  |  65+ years of age  |  Experience level: over 5 safaris

Always a pleasure to visit

5 / 5 5 /5
5 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5 4 / 5

Etosha National Park is one of Southern Africa’s best wildlife reserves. As with many such parks, what you see depends on patience and luck. However, in Etosha you will always see something interesting regardless of the season. There are many accessible waterholes where animals congregate in the dry winter season, although there is still plenty to see at other times of the year. We have visited Etosha twice, in late April/early May, and during our visit this year (2016) we were rewarded with the sight of eight elephants who walked right past us and a few minutes later we saw three cheetahs out in the open. All of this was a short drive from Namutoni Camp. The other good point about Etosha is that it is very large so it doesn’t feel crowded. The only downside, and it’s not a major issue, is that the camps inside the park are a bit tired and need an injection of money and better management. Despite that it is still a highly recommended place to visit.