Tuesday 29th January 2013 +2.00 hrs GMT: Etosha National Park Namibia ­ History & Geology

I had hoped to show you a map but to do so would be breaking copyright laws so above is a picture of the inner courtyard of the Fort in which I stayed. I’m sure, however, that you can find a map on Google or in Wikipedia.

History of the Park

The earliest human settlers in Etosha were nomadic Haillom Bushmen who followed migratory animals and lived close to the waterholes where game, veld food and water were plentiful.

The first European explorers to record the existence of the Etosha Salt Pan were Charles Andersson and Francis Galton who reached Namutoni (The area of the park in which I spent most of the time) in May 1851. An entrepreneur Willem Jordan bought some 2,500sq.km. from a local chief in 1885 for “£300, 25 firearms, one salted horse (I assume for eating) and a cask of brandy!”

Dr F von Lindequist the governor of German South West Africa at the time declared Etosha as Game Reserve No 2 in March 1907.  It is rather heartening to realise that the ideals of preservation and conservation were prominent over a hundred years ago especially today as Africa battles the relentless poaching of Rhino principally for the Chinese medicine trade but more about that another time.

The No 2 Reserve extended from the Kunene and Hoarusib river mouths, eastwards towards Namutoni covering an area of 80,000sq.km. making it the largest game reserve in the world.  It was renamed the Etosha Game Park and Etosha National Park by an act of the South African Parliament in 1967. In 1970 the borders were redefined and Etosha was reduced to its present size of 22,270sq.km. It still amazes me now that in a park of this size and considering that we were only in a relative small corner we were so lucky to see at close quarters so much wildlife.

Geology of Etosha

I think I have already mentioned that the Namib is the oldest desert in the world.  The Etosha basin originated about 600 million years ago during the mountain-building phase of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland. Today the dominant feature of the basin is the Etosha Salt Pan. 

Some 300 million years ago, when Namibia was located at the South Pole, the pan area was submerged under a massive glacier for over 20 million years. The great weight of the ice that was many kilometres thick compressed the land and when Gondwanaland drifted northwards and the ice melted the huge depression of the Etosha Basin was formed.  Gondwanaland gradually fragmented into the continents of Africa, South America, the Indian subcontinent and Antarctica. Uplifting at the edges of the continents created the vast central depression that contains the present day Etosha and Okavango (Another wide life haven to the east of Etosha) basins.

I should mention that this summary is based on the following publication “Etosha National Park – Guidebook to the Waterholes and Animals. T O Osborne & W Versfeld. Venture Publications 2003.”