THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING COMES TOGETHER.

Finally, the day came. I waited for this exact moment. We were headed to Etosha National Park. This is where everything comes together, meaning that where all the animals come together in one national park. I’ve been thinking about a lot of things for this moment but two things stood out in back of my mind that I hoped for. Seeing zebras, one of my favorite animals, and getting a shot of a giraffe standing next to a tree in front of sunset. As we drove to place we stayed at during our stay, it wasn’t too pretty. It had gotten so late and the GPS led us to a sketchy narrow trail deep into the woods. About five minutes in, we came across a gate blocking our path. One of us had to get out to open the gate in the dark. Where there could be lions … or … just something out there. Jack decided to open up the first one and we went through with no problem until there was another one. We came through three more, then there was the last one. It was different. There were cows near the last gate. We took turns opening up the gates and this last one was on Jack. He went out slowly, the cows stood with stone cold eyes directly at Jack. One motioned towards him, but Jack went behind the truck to avoid it. Jack walked through the horde of cows quietly, he got to the gate and immediately opened it. We drove right through before the cows started towards the opened gate. Jack shut it right when the cows got to the edge of the gate. Then after that, we finally arrived to our location … at 11:30PM, when we had to get up early to drive two hours to Etosha National Park at sunrise.

ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

Before the sun rose at 6:30AM, we took off to Etosha National Park just in time before Etosha National Park opened. We wanted to take full advantage and get as much content as possible. The four of us have specific goals in mind that we hoped for. I just wanted to see zebras and get the right photo I had in my mind. I really wanted to emphasize the pattern of the stripes. As we entered the park after having a quick breakfast at the entrance, the very first animal we saw was a giraffe. The giraffe was just very chill and minded its own business like it was acting for the tourists. It ate leaves from the tall trees. We moved forward expecting to see more giraffes in a better situation. Then, we came across a pack of zebras. Zebra there, zebra near us, baby zebra in the distance. It was awesome to see it up close in person! Yes, I’ve seen zebras in a zoo but that doesn’t come close to seeing zebras in their natural habit. I knew I needed to take the chance to snap the photo I had in mind. Jack had a telephoto lens that would be perfect to get that one photo. I asked Jack if I could have the opportunity to get it and he was happy to allow me to get exactly what I wanted. The timing was hard because the zebras were definitely not paid actors for us. I scanned around to find that one zebra that was exactly in position for me. Then, there was one staring right at us. I set the camera composition quickly because we didn’t have much time to get the right photo. I snapped a photo, looked at the photo …. the one you see on the left is exactly what I wanted. It showcased the unique pattern of the white and black stripes on their face and body. Of course I got that printed!

Photo taken by JACK ZAKRAJSEK                                       Canon R6 | Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3                      ISO160 | 70mm | f/5.0 | 1/1000sec

As we had to get moving to get through the gate before it closes, we were going full speed ahead. As fast as we could in order to get out before we would have another adventure for the night and it wouldn’t be a nice one. At the same time, Jacob, Jack, and myself looked around for more interesting things. About ten minutes through, we saw a smaller animal. We couldn’t really identify it because the sun was pretty low already. It was walking away from us, then it stopped in its position. We could hear its laugh and it immediately stared us down with its stone cold eyes. It was a hyena. The laughing sounded creepy, like that clown from the movie ‘It’, a very screechy noise. It was amazing to see and creepy at the same time. We got out but, we were a little late and got stopped by a soldier questioning why we were late. We were allowed through after we explained ourselves. Etosha was a phenomenal experience. I would love to do it again to find the other animals we missed. It was time to head back to Cape Town early in the morning.

Etosha National Park was amazing to see in person. You can drive together in a group being guided by a tour guide, or you can be on your own in your rental vehicle. There are so many turns to choose from to find specific animals. You may not see what you wanted to see, but you’ll have an experience of your life. Jacob and Jack wanted to see a lion, Musti wanted to see a rhino. We drove through the chosen path hoping for those animals, but really we hoped for anything cool. We came across group of elephants up close, more giraffes, antelopes, wildebeests, springbok, greater kudu, and several others. We kept driving around as much as possible for the next several hours until the sun started to set. We knew that Etosha National Park was closing in about 30 minutes and we were very far away from the entrance. We had to hurry back to catch the gate before we could get trapped. I looked to my right and remembered something. Something I thought of but couldn’t remember exactly what it was. Then, I knew that exact sunset. I told Musti, who was driving at the moment, to slow down to get the right angle where the giraffe stood in front of the sunset. It was the exact moment I had waited for. It was like something straight out of ‘The Lion King’ and it was completely mesmerizing to see it in real life. I took Musti’s BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K to get the exact shot I wanted. Bam, that was the shot. You will see that exact shot in the vlog at the top. I couldn’t believe I got the exact shot I’ve been dreaming about. It was like a bucket list shot for me.

As we left the place we stayed at, we had to go through all the gates again. Thank God it was daylight out, so no problem. After the last gate, we noticed something far out in distance. It was roaming through the middle of the road. As we got closer to it, it was a FREAKING RHINO! It was like a guardian protecting the road ahead of us. It wouldn’t allow us through. Musti wanted to get out and snap some photos of him in front of the rhino because that was one of the top animals he wanted to see. The rhino started to threaten us as it was feeling threatened. It started to paw the ground to warn us. Musti immediately got back into the truck and the Rhino started in our direction. Musti had to put the truck in full reverse to avoid the collision. The rhino was satisfied that we listened to its warning and still wouldn’t allow us through. It started to walk the opposite direction of us along the road. Musti slowly attempted to pass the rhino, and the rhino gave us a cold stare as a warning. Well, we had to wait a little longer. It wasn’t a short wait, we waited for about 45 minutes before we could even pass it. As we passed it, the rhino charged towards us and chased us for about a good minute. Folks, that’s the journey. Namibia was an awesome experience. We had so many ups and downs, but we managed to get through it all together and still enjoyed the crazy adventure. I will definitely be back soon to explore more and stay longer. It’s time to go back to Cape Town.