Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 061-230066;
www.gondwana-collection.com
; campsite per person N$120, s/d chalet
N$1300/2000; )
Excellent grassed campsites spill over a large area here, so there's a
good chance you'll get a pitch even if you haven't booked. This whole place is set up like
a small village complete with
shebeen
bar; be warned there is plenty of kitsch, including a
shop in a railway carriage. Safari drives into Etosha are available. It's 9km from the park
on the C38, just off the road and well signed. Etosha Safari Lodge next door is also owned
by the Gondwana group.
Information
Only the eastern two-thirds of Etosha are open to the general public; the western third is
reserved exclusively for tour operators. Etosha's three main entry gates are Von Lind-
equist (Namutoni), west of Tsumeb; King Nehale, southeast of Ondangwa; and Andersson
(Okaukuejo), north of Outjo.
Visitors are encouraged to check in at either Von Lindequist Gate or Andersson Gate
(King Nehale Gate is frequently closed), where you then must purchase a permit costing
N$80 per person plus N$10 per vehicle per day. The permits are to be presented at your
reserved rest camp, where you pay any outstanding camping or accommodation fees.
Those booked into the rest camps must show up before sunset, and can only leave after
sunrise; specific times are posted on the gates.
Pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles and hitching are prohibited in Etosha, and open
trucks must be screened off. Outside the rest camps, visitors must stay in their vehicles
(except at toilet stops).
Getting There & Around
There's no public transport into and around the park, which means that you must visit
either in a private vehicle or as part of an organised tour.
All roads in the eastern section of Etosha are passable to 2WD vehicles. The park speed
limit is set at 60km/h both to protect wildlife and keep down the dust.
The park road between Namutoni and Okaukuejo skirts Etosha Pan, providing great
views of its vast spaces. Driving isn't permitted on the pan, but a network of gravel roads
threads through the surrounding savannahs and mopane woodland and even extends out to
a viewing site, the Etosha Lookout, in the middle of the salt desert.
