Etosha
Namibia
A white salt pan the size of a small country, and every animal for miles at the same few waterholes
Photo by Sam Power on Unsplash
Photos by Max Murauer, JP Desvigne and Sergi Ferrete on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Namibia
June to October, the dry season, when the animals come to the waterholes
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 100mm in Feb
Where it is
19.18°S, 15.92°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Stay at least one night at Okaukuejo and sit at the floodlit waterhole after dark, when the rhinos come
- Drive slowly from waterhole to waterhole and wait at each rather than covering ground
- Be at a waterhole by the gate opening, in the cool before the heat
- Spend nights at two camps, south and east, rather than driving the length of the park in a day
- Come in the green season for the birds and the newborns, accepting the animals will be spread out
- Fill the tank at every camp, whatever the gauge says
Etosha travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Namibia
Mid-rangeThe Namibian dollar is pegged one-to-one with the South African rand, and rand are accepted everywhere in Namibia — though Namibian dollars are not accepted in South Africa, so spend them before you leave. The rest camps and lodges take cards; carry cash for fuel and tips in case the card machine is down.
ATMs & cards
There are no machines in the park. Draw cash in Windhoek, Otjiwarongo, Outjo or Tsumeb on the way. Bank Windhoek, FNB, Standard Bank and Nedbank are the ones to use.
Avoid these
- assuming there is a machine in the park, because there is not
Use these instead
- Bank Windhoek
- FNB
- Standard Bank
- Nedbank — in Outjo, Otjiwarongo or Tsumeb
Rand are accepted at par everywhere in Namibia; Namibian dollars are not accepted in South Africa, so spend them before you cross.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Namibia
SafeCrime is not the issue; the park’s rules are. Stay in the car outside the camps, be inside a camp gate by sunset — driving after closing is a fine and a risk — and keep to the speed limit on the gravel, where cars roll. The north, including Etosha, is a malaria area in the rainy season: ask about prophylaxis. In the late dry season the heat is fierce, so carry water on every drive.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Okaukuejo — inside the camp fence
- Halali
- Namutoni
- Etosha National Park — from inside a vehicle
Worth more attention
- Getting out of the car anywhere outside the fenced camps and the marked toilet stops
- Being on the road after the camp gates close at sunset
- Driving the gravel at speed, which is how visitors roll cars in Namibia
- Running low on fuel between camps
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Namibia visa rules
Visa on arrivalup to 90 daysN$1,600, about $90
Namibia ended visa-free entry for most Western nationalities on 1 April 2025. A visa is now issued on arrival for a fee, or in advance through the e-visa portal, which is faster at the airport. South African and most SADC passports remain visa-free.
Other passports
e-Visa requiredN$1,600
Applied for through the Ministry of Home Affairs portal.
How to get it: Apply on the e-visa portal before flying to avoid the queue at Hosea Kutako, where the on-arrival desk is the slow part of the arrival.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Namibia
Good but costlyRequired to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Malaria prophylaxis for the north — the Namib and the coast are malaria-free
Getting treated
Windhoek and Swakopmund have good private hospitals; the desert has nothing at all, and a serious problem out there means a flight. Med-evac cover is the single most useful thing on a Namibian insurance policy.
Dehydration and sun in a desert where the humidity is near zero and you do not notice sweating. Road accidents on gravel are the leading cause of injury to visitors by a wide margin — slow down. Malaria only matters in the far north, in the Zambezi strip and Etosha in the wet season.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodRest-camp restaurants are serviceable buffets; the private lodges outside the gates do better. Most self-drivers braai at the camp — buy meat and supplies in Outjo or Tsumeb, because the camp shops are small.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- LEFAWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
LEFA Windhoek
- From the airport
- Hosea Kutako to Windhoek N$350–500, and it is 45km out
- Against a taxi
- LEFA is metered and vetted; shared taxis are cheap and not aimed at visitors.
Time zone and your working day
Africa/Windhoek — 6 hours ahead of you
2 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–11:00 your time, 15:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 03:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 03:00–11:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Namibia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Not hereRevolut No local plan
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
English (Namibia)
- Hello (Oshiwambo)Wa lalapowa la-LA-po
- Hello (Afrikaans)Hallo / Goeie dagHAH-lo / GOO-ya dahg
- Thank you (Afrikaans)DankieDUNK-ee
- Thank you (Oshiwambo)TangiTAHN-gi
5 more phrases
- How are you?Hoe gaan dit?hoo khaan dit
- Good / fineLekkerLEK-uh
- Gravel roadGrondpadGRONT-paht
- BarbecueBraaibry
- GoodbyeTotsiensTOT-seens
English is the official language, though few speak it at home: Oshiwambo is the largest first language, Afrikaans is the street lingua franca in the centre and south, and German survives from the colonial period in Swakopmund and on the road signs. Everyone in tourism speaks English, and a word of Afrikaans or Oshiwambo lands well.
Travel tipsReligion
Lutheran Christian
Overwhelmingly Christian and mostly Lutheran, a legacy of German and Finnish missions, with traditional Himba and San beliefs alive alongside it. Sunday is quiet and church attendance is high. Nothing here constrains a visitor beyond the ordinary courtesy of dressing decently in a village and asking before photographing a ceremony.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Greet before business, in English, Afrikaans or the local language; a straight question with no hello lands badly
- Drive with your lights on, wave to oncoming vehicles on gravel roads, and pull over to let faster cars pass
- Ask before photographing Himba or Herero people, and expect to pay or to buy something
- Tip guides and camp staff; wages here depend on it
- Carry water everywhere, and tell someone where you are driving
Don't
- Do not drive gravel roads at tarmac speeds — rollovers are the single biggest cause of tourist deaths here
- Do not photograph government buildings or the diamond areas
- Do not treat Himba villages as a photo stop; go with a guide who has a relationship there
- Do not underestimate distances: 400km between fuel stations is normal
- Do not leave food out at a campsite, or expect a fence between you and the wildlife
Where to stay in Etosha
No Holistay rentals in Etosha yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Etosha on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Hosea Kutako, Windhoek WDH
5hfrom the airport· 401 km as the crow flies
Five hours by tarred road to Okaukuejo, through Otjiwarongo and Outjo.
Also worth pricing: Ondangwa OND — domestic flights from Windhoek; then a hire car, about an hour and a half to the King Nehale gate on the north side.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
