Photographing Wildlife at Etosha National Park (Part 2)

This is the second half of my two-part article on photographing Etosha National Park in Namibia. This second part concerns gear and photography. (If you missed the first chapter, it concerns the park, the best period to visit, and why Etosha is a deserving place for photography.)

How to Find Wildlife in Etosha

In the first part of this article, I explained why it is exciting to be able to self-drive in Etosha National Park. I enjoyed it so much that I cannot wait to do similar drives in other places in the future. But there is a challenge associated with it: You must find the animals yourself!

In Etosha’s dry season, animals are often found near the waterholes, which gives you a good place to start. But you still need to employ your scouting skills. Even a pride of lions is not easy to spot when resting in the shade of some trees hundreds of meters away.

Based on my own experience searching for animals, I can offer a prepared adventurer the following bits of advice:

• Buy a large map of the park, and carry a pen with you to mark the locations you see and what you find, including the time of day.
• Share your information with others at the lodges, and listen to where they went and what they saw during the day. Use your map to take notes.
• Use your binoculars frequently and ask those in your car to do the same.
• When looking for predators, you should pay attention to where herbivores look, where they are running, or if they are concentrated somewhere in the opposite area of the waterhole. You can often infer the location of the predators from this information!
• Stay ready at a moment’s notice; things happen fast sometimes.
• Think forward. Nothing is more rewarding than forecasting an animal’s behavior, moving accordingly, and being in the best position to take your photos.
• Look at other vehicles. A tourist jeep at the roadside often means something interesting to see.
• If a place is crowded or the light is terrible, move on. Etosha is a big park, and it’s not worth waiting around if there is nothing special for you.
• Respect animals, other tourists, and photographers.
• Stay on the authorized roads.
• Don’t get out of your car outside the authorized places.

I’ve avoided making a list of “best waterholes” to check because such a thing doesn’t exist. I had much luck with lions at Rietfontein, for example – at the time of my visit, the resident Pride of Lions had some cubs so young that they meowed like house cats! But that was a transient event and probably is already gone. For all I know, Rietfontein will not be a promising spot next time I visit.

My experience in this location also spoke to the importance of watching animal behavior. For the most part, I was not photographing these lions near the waterhole, but actually about 1 km away. I only found them because I noticed a lioness with swollen mammary glands walking purposefully in one direction away from the water.

Another time, I spotted a dot of red in the distance, and binoculars confirmed that it was a cheetah with two cubs and a kill! I spent all day photographing them and only left when it was necessary to return to the lodge. We were in the middle of nowhere and in total solitude!

Recommended Photography Gear

The first piece of gear I recommend is a simply beanbag. Resting and stabilizing the camera on the car’s open window is mandatory. This is how you will photograph wildlife here – no tripod or monopod is required. If you are space-constrained, consider flying with an empty beanbag and filling it upon arrival.

The second tool I advise you to bring is a good set of binoculars. It is very useful for spotting and observing the animals comfortably.

As for the cameras and lenses, my best advice is to take with you:

• Two cameras, letting you take photos with two different lenses without swapping them too often.
• One normal zoom, such as a 24-120mm, to shoot candid photos and pictures of the landscape.
• One long zoom, such as a 100-400mm, for larger and closer wildlife.
• A supertelephoto lens, such as a 500mm, 600mm, or 800mm.

If you are constrained on space, you can replace the two longer lenses and cover most reasonable needs by using a 180-600mm or 200-600mm lens. Since Etosha closes at night, and sunrise/sunset photography is not really an option, even an f/5.6 or f/6.3 lens captures enough light for wildlife photography.

That said, I think of 500mm as a minimum and 600mm+ as ideal for Etosha. Since you are not allowed to leave your car, and the car must stay on designated roads, it is common to find animals that are further than you might wish. A camera with a high pixel density helps here, too.

That said, I disagree with a frequently-recommended idea of renting an exotic lens before this kind of trip. While an exotic lens can help take memorable images, there is a learning curve nobody should underestimate. They are also heavy and expensive. If you don’t have a longe enough already, I would rather rent a 180-600mm or 200-600mm instead of an exotic 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4.

By the way, depending on your taste, a smartphone can substitute the short zoom with good results, especially if it is recent. Etosha is more about the wildlife than the landscapes,

What about other equipment? Well, electricity is not a problem in Etosha, so you can bring a reasonable number of batteries and charge them when needed. My advice is that 4-5 batteries will be plenty even for shooting all day with two cameras (or three batteries with a gripped camera like the Nikon Z9 or Canon EOS R3). Just make sure you have enough chargers to fill all of them overnight! Namibia uses a specific plug, so bring enough adapters, too.

Don’t forget to bring a blower and some microfiber towels to handle the dust! (I spent 5 minutes cleaning up my lenses every night during safaris). I don’t frequently move my gear out and in during the day to avoid filling the backpack with dust. Actually, I prefer to keep the gear out most of the time, ready to use, covered with a pillow cover.

As for storage, I personally keep everything in a GuraGear Kiboko 30L backpack. The important thing is not the particular backpack, but that you are able to fit all your gear and still bring the backpack on an airline.

While I usually bring my laptop on photo trips, I leave it back home for a trip like this. I want to dive into the atmosphere of the place, which I can’t do by spending hours on my computer. I also use the available time to speak with people and share information about animals and locations. Or maybe rest with my buddies and consider the photos we would like to take tomorrow.

My last advice is to bring double the size memory card you find reasonable at home. I averaged 4k photos per day of safari. By shooting RAW files, that quickly pushes you over the 1TB territory after 4-5 days. Your storage needs will vary, but do yourself a favor and avoid falling short of space. Who knows, hopefully you have a lucky week!

I hope you enjoyed these essays about Etosha National Park and how to take rewarding photos there. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.