Etosha Under Canvas

After an incredible time at Omaruru Game Lodge, we left at midday on Sunday 13th April to drive the 3 hours to the world famous Etosha National Park where we finally used our rooftop tent! I could have camped with the car and rooftop tent throughout Namibia but I wanted a bit more comfort. Still, we did manage the camping for two nights at the Etosha Okaukuejo Camp which I booked online for 860 NAD (£39). As Tiger was still under the age of six, she was free which was a bonus!

The Okaukuejo camp also had chalets and double rooms alongside the campsite, as well as a wonderful swimming pool, its own water hole, a cafe and a restaurant. Alongside our campsite fees we additionally had to pay the Etosha Park entrance fees which were 150 NAD (£7) per day with children aged under 16 free of charge plus 50 NAD (£2) per day for our car.

We had some fun getting the tent up on the roof, as despite having had some rather thorough instructions at the initial handover in Windhoek I had pretty much forgotten everything I had been shown as this was the first and only time we camped in Namibia! It is completely possible to put the tent up and down on your own but I had a bit of help from the campsite attendant in getting it up, and a family camped next to us helped with taking it down.

Along with a lovely shower and toilet block, our little camping area also had a seating and BBQ area, but we ate all our meals in the restaurant. On our very first evening in Etosha we swam, ate and walked out to the water hole - the latter was nice to see the sunset but we didn't see that many animals.

The following morning we were up bright and early for an organised game drive at 8am. We absolutely could have self driven in our own vehicle but I was worried Tiger would simply fall asleep in the back of the car, plus I was quite keen to be sitting up high and not have the stress of the driving. And finally, the professional drivers are all chatting to each other about where the animals actually are so we put ourselves in their hands. The game drive was 650 NAD for me (£30) but free for Tiger being under six and we were paired up with some other families.

It really was incredible to see lions, elephants, zebras, rhinos and wildebeast! Upon our return to camp we watched the sunset at the water hole, visited by a few animals!

Camping wise, I was definitely less of a fan but it's safe to say Tiger loved every minute. Our car had come fully equipped with sleeping bags and we felt super safe on our roof!

On Tuesday 15th April though I was done with the camping and we moved onto Toshari Lodge which was 2006 NAD (£92) for one night, and booked on Booking. We absolutely revelled in the luxury after two nights in the tent!

Toshari was an oasis of calm after the heat of camping and the game drive. We also made full use of their three swimming pools - one right outside the hotel main reception and two more further into the gaden. It was here that I truly felt Tiger learned to swim - indeed at practically every location in Namibia apart from Swakopmund (which was too cold) we had had access to swimming and had grasped this with both hands! Go Tiger!

To end our first day of relaxing, we also had a great dinner in the restaurant (complete with a staff choir!).

The following day we enjoyed breakfast and truly eked out our time at Toshari once again with more swimming, breakfast and lunch before packing up and heading to our next Etosha stop in the early afternoon - Gondwana Etosha Safari Lodge - a mere 11 minutes drive down the road!