The Etosha Pan is located within the best game reserve in Namibia, and one of the best in the world, the Etosha National Park, this holds its status due to its high volume of wildlife and excellent infrastructure, making it very visitor friendly. Covering 22,270 sq. km the park has been shrunk from its original 100,000 sq. km due to human considerations, however the Pan itself covers 25% of the total area, and the environment, as a whole is unsurpassed.
Tourists can drive themselves around the park, or wait at waterholes for the animals to come and drink. There are endangered species resident here, such as both black and white rhinos, as well as endemic wildlife like the tiny Damara dik-dik, and the black-faced impala, other game include apparently the tallest elephants in Africa, lion and leopard as well as blue wildebeest, giraffe, kudu, Burchell's and Hartmann's zebra, eland, red hartebeest and yellow-tailed mongoose.
Digging for water below the sand wears down elephants tusks, so most of the Etosha population are short tuskers, however, large family groups are often seen at the waterholes, and are studied on the Park for their infrasonic (below human hearing) communication.
The floodlit waterholes also give visitors the chance to view black rhinos, and as these animals are extremely aggressive and secretive, this is one of the best opportunities to see them.
The Etosha Pan itself is an enormous salt pan, 130 km long and 50 km wide, which millions of years ago was an inland sea. Now the Pan fills with water only during heavy rains, creating a soupy mineral rich shallow lake, which attracts masses of wading birds, particularly flamingos. The perennial springs around the Pan draw large numbers of birds all year round, providing one of the only sources of water in the region.
This is a place of extremes, the searing heat reflecting off the white surface, with ghostly animals drifting through the haze; in the rainy season the area is packed with animals and birds, and the landscape becomes lush and vibrant, but this is utterly hidden in the dry salt plains. Mirages move across the brilliant white sands, leaving visitors unsure of the distinction between dream and reality, while the wider outreaches of the park offer close encounters with wildlife in one of the most beautiful protected areas in the world.
This distinctive programme offers the opportunity to help the cheetah by clearing the sickle bush, allowing them to exist and hunt in their natural habitat. You will also track and monitor both cheetahs and leopards as well as enjoy being in close proximity to these incredible creatures.
This conservation project in the Namib desert is about getting out into the field and really making a difference at the forefront of elephant conservation. This is your chance to get involved in vital elephant conservation in Namibia.
Volunteering on this programme gives you an exciting and rare opportunity to work with and care for the animals of Africa on a daily basis. You will look after numerous species, ranging from baboons and meerkats to lions and cheetahs, helping to feed, care and clean them, while also maintaining the centre’s enclosures and grounds.
Set off on the adventure of a lifetime through Africa’s wide and varied landscape! Get up close to big game, take a trip to Kruger National Park and help to preserve the continent’s most iconic wildlife. Zimbabwe - Namibia - South Africa.
This family run farm dedicates its time to establishing the most suitable and secure home possible for neglected or orphaned wild animals in the African Savannah. Volunteers are trained to care for the injured or orphaned animals.
Janet Horsley had an incredible time on her tailor-made gap year, blazing a trail through Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America, read her story here.
Gap Year for Grown Ups have many Career Break Voluntary Projects in Africa for grown up gappers. Because Gap Year for Grown Ups is the leading authority and only specialist source of ideas and options for grown up gap years, it has the widest range of volunteering programmes in Africa. These include animal/wildlife conservation, teaching English in Africa, community volunteering in Africa and Voluntary work with children in Africa.
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