The best time to visit Etosha
In Etosha you do not watch the weather but the water: in the dry season everything comes to a dozen waterholes by the road, in the wet one it scatters across a park the size of Kosovo.
- Best
- August–October: driest
- Good
- May–July: dry and cold in the morning
- Green and scattered
- November–April: afternoon rain
Etosha has one rule that decides everything: in the dry season from May to October almost all the water in the park is the pumped waterholes along the main road (a handful of natural springs, such as Goas, are the exception), so the safari comes down to parking and waiting. In the wet season water is everywhere, the animals scatter, and the park turns green and empty.
Etosha is a plain around a salt pan with almost no permanent water. Everything depends on how much rain has fallen and how many waterholes are left — below is month by month, with what each gives.
The dry season
The grass dies back, muddy pools dry out, and almost all the water left is the pumped waterholes the park maintains along the main road (a handful of natural springs, such as Goas, are the exception). Animals come to them on a timetable you learn in a day: zebra and antelope in the morning, elephants at noon, rhinos after dark. The safari comes down to reaching a waterhole, switching off the engine and waiting half an hour — which is why Etosha works even for a first-time self-driver.
The peak
The driest part of the year and the densest sightings: in September and October a single waterhole can hold two hundred zebra, an elephant herd and a lion to one side, all at once. The days are hot, the mornings pleasant, and the camps inside the park are booked months ahead. Anyone who can choose, chooses this — and books in January.
The wet season
Afternoon downpours, a pan that fills in places and brings flamingos, and grass that grows. The animals no longer have to come to the waterholes, so they scatter across the park and are harder to find. In exchange: newborns, migrant birds, green savanna and prices that drop. For a first safari we would not; for a return visit and for photographers, yes.
Month by month
If you only get one — September
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
When is the best time to visit Etosha?
August, September and October: the driest, when the only water is the roadside waterholes and everything comes to them. May to July is equally dry with colder mornings and fewer people. Camps inside the park are booked months ahead for September.
Is Etosha worth it in the wet season?
It is for a return visit: green, with newborns and birds, and empty. But water is everywhere, so the animals scatter and are harder to find. The night waterhole at Okaukuejo works then too, and it is the surest thing in the park.
Do you need a 4x4 for Etosha?
No. The main roads are maintained gravel and an ordinary car with high clearance handles them. A 4x4 is for the western part of the park and for the rest of Namibia, not for the waterholes along the main road.
Ready for Etosha?
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