Etosha, the Great White Place, stretches over a distance of 300 km from west to east as the proverbial crow flies. On my most recent visit I decided to traverse the park from Galton Gate in the west to Von Lindequist gate in the east – a journey of several hundred kilometres.
The park’s western-most reaches are completely unlike the vast plains extending eastwards of the Dolomietberge. Here, the landscape is punctuated by a discontinuous range of low hills and ridges stretching for close to 30 km from north to south. Most Etosha maps show a road close to the park’s western boundary, but this route is no longer open. The waterholes were closed a few years ago to discourage game from congregating close to the western boundary where there is a risk of getting poached or leaving the park when elephants break the fence.
