This is the second part of my two-part article on photographing Etosha National Park in Namibia. This second part deals with gear and photography. (in case you missed it first chapterIt’s all about the park, the best period to visit, and why Etosha is a worthy location for photography.)
How to find wildlife in Etosha
In the first part of this article, I explained why it’s exciting to be able to self-drive in Etosha National Park. I enjoyed it so much that I can’t wait to do similar drives in other places in the future. But it also comes with a challenge: you have to find the animals yourself!
In Etosha’s dry season, animals are often found near bodies of water, giving you a good place to start. But you still need to employ your scouting skills. Even a pride of lions is not easy to recognize when resting in the shade of some trees hundreds of meters away.
Based on my experience exploring animals, I can offer the following advice to a prepared adventurer:
- Buy a large map of the park, and take a pen with you to mark the places you visit and what you find, including the time of day.
- Share your insights with others at the lodge, and hear where they went during the day and what they saw. Use your map to take notes.
- Use your binoculars frequently and ask people in your car to do the same.
- When looking for predators, you should pay attention to where herbivorous animals look, where they are running, or whether they are concentrated somewhere in the opposite area of ​​the reservoir. You can often guess the location of predators from this information!
- Be ready at a moment’s notice; Things happen fast sometimes.
- think forward. There is nothing more rewarding than predicting an animal’s behavior, moving accordingly, and being in the best position to take your photographs.
- Look at other vehicles. A tourist jeep on the side of the road often means seeing something interesting.
- If a place is crowded or the lighting is terrible, move on. Etosha is a large park, and if there is nothing special there for you then it is not worth waiting here.
- Be respectful of animals, other tourists and photographers.
- Stay on authorized roads.
- Do not leave your car outside authorized areas.
I’ve avoided creating a list of the “best waterholes” to check out because no such thing exists. For example, I had good luck with lions in Rietfontein – at the time of my visit, the resident pride of lions had some cubs so small they meowed like house cats! But that was a momentary phenomenon and is probably already gone. As far as I know, Rietfontein will not be a promising place the next time I go.
My experience at this location also speaks to the importance of keeping an eye on animal behavior. For the most part, I was taking photographs of these lions not near the waterhole, but about 1 km away. I found them only because I saw a lioness with swollen mammary glands walking deliberately in a direction away from the water.
The second time, I saw a red dot in the distance, and binoculars confirmed that it was a cheetah with two cubs and a kill! I spent the whole day photographing them and left only when it was necessary to return to the lodge. We were in the middle of nowhere and all alone!
Recommended Photography Gear
The first piece of gear I recommend is a simple beanbag. It is essential to mount and stabilize the camera on the open window of the car. This is how you’ll photograph the wildlife here – no tripod or monopod required. If you’re short on space, consider flying with an empty beanbag and filling it upon arrival.
The second equipment I recommend you bring is a good set of binoculars. It is very useful to watch and observe the animals comfortably.
As far as cameras and lenses are concerned, my best advice is to take with you:
- Dual cameras, letting you take pictures with two different lenses without having to change them again and again.
- A normal zoom, such as a 24-120mm, to shoot clear portraits and landscape photos.
- A longer zoom, like a 100-400mm, for larger and closer wildlife.
- A supertelephoto lens, such as a 500mm, 600mm, or 800mm.
If you are short on space, you can replace the two longer lenses and use a 180-600mm or 200-600mm lens to best meet your needs. 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 consider 500mm to be minimum and 600mm+ to be ideal for Etosha. Since you are not allowed to leave your car, and the car must remain on designated roads, it is common to encounter animals further away than you would like. The high pixel density camera helps here too.
That said, I disagree with the often recommended idea of ​​renting a foreign lens before such a trip. While an exotic lens can help take memorable photos, there is a learning curve that no one should underestimate. These are also heavy and expensive. If you don’t already have enough length, I would rent a 180-600mm or 200-600mm instead of the exotic 400mm f/2.8 or 600mm f/4.
Well, depending on your interest, a smartphone can opt for short zoom with good results, especially if it is recent. Etosha is more about wildlife than landscapes,
What about other devices? Well, electricity is not an issue in Etosha, so you can bring a reasonable number of batteries and charge them when needed. I recommend that 4-5 batteries will be enough even for a full day of shooting 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 them all overnight! Namibia uses a specific plug, so bring enough adapters as well.
Don’t forget to bring a blower and some microfiber towels to handle the dust! (I spend 5 minutes cleaning my lenses every night during safari). To avoid the backpack getting dusty, I don’t move my stuff in and out frequently during the day. In fact, I like to keep gear out most of the time, ready to use, covered with pillowcases.
As far as storage goes, I personally keep everything in a GuruGear Kiboko 30L backpack. The important thing is not the particular backpack, but that you are able to fit all your luggage and still bring a backpack on the airline.
While I usually bring my laptop on photo trips, I leave it back home for trips like this. I want to immerse myself in the atmosphere of a place, which I can’t do by spending hours at my computer. I also use the available time to talk to people and share information about animals and places. Or maybe just relax with your friends and consider the photos we’d like to take tomorrow.
My last tip is to bring a proper sized memory card double the size you want at home. I take an average of 4k photos per day on safari. By shooting RAW files, it instantly pushes you into 1TB territory after 4-5 days. Your storage needs will vary, but do yourself a favor and avoid running out of space. Who knows, hopefully you have a lucky week!
I hope you enjoyed these essays about Etosha National Park and how to take useful photographs there. If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.
