Okaukuejo and Etosha Safari Camp

This by far has to be the best day of the trip so far, in my eyes anyway. To travel to Africa and see the animals, especially the safari animals that you always hear about, such as Lions, Elephants, Giraffes and Zebras. Well talk about dream come true! We stayed overnight in Okaukuejo, which lies within Etosha National Park. Myself and three other girls seemed to have what was known as the "love room," well so it seemed. Mosquito netting galore made the night seemed so romantic.
So one of the main amenities to this resort was in fact a watering hole that was lit up at night so us tourists could watch all the animals come and drink. I was so excited I skipped showering from our two days of camping and went straight to the watering hole. All I wanted to see was a hyena, actually I didn't care what the hell I saw all I wanted was to see an African animal. So we waited, and we waited, and surprisingly...we waited. Until finally, it was time for dinner, and don't you know it, the second I leave a thirsty rhino comes into the picture. Courtney was actually the one that came and told me casually of course..."Oh yeah Monica there is a rhino down at the watering hole." And I'm sure everyone knew that from the second we landed in Africa all I talked about was seeing a rhino and It was here, the moment I was waiting for! Me, Amber, and Tara ran down to the watering hole, and I had sprained my ankle earlier that day, but I was running my heart out, I did not want to miss this opportunity. We got to the watering hole and way in the distance you could see a tiny rhino. I couldn't believe it, I mean you see them at the zoo, and think nothing of it, but this was Africa!! And I was looking at a real, wild (somewhat), African Rhino!!!!!!! This was definitely a moment that I would not forget, all I could talk about at dinner that night was being able to see a Rhino, something that I had been oh so looking forward to!
Driving through Etosha was just like a blurred sense of reality, I don't think it actually sinks in until you are telling people that you drove through a National Park in Africa while looking out your window and seeing a lion, or a zebra. It was so amazing just how many animals this place actually had, and even going through the different ecosystems within the park itself, almost more than we had seen the whole trip. Etosha was just a breath taking experience that I am so thankful for.
As we were leaving the park we stopped for the night at the Etosha Safari Camp. This was a night where I think we were all able to relax and just have some fun bonding as a team. It was far enough along that we had already bonded a little but still where we could reminisce about the memories that we had made.
Etosha you will be greatly missed!! Even as I am writing this I would give anything to be back there. It doesn't even seem real, like it was all a dream and I feel like I am making this all up, but I know what I did, and it will always be the best memory while in Africa, for me at least!