Etosha

The next part of the camping tour took us up to the Etosha National Park, one of the world's greatest venues for viewing wildlife. It is a vast area of more than 20,000 sq km and is unique for its flat, saline desert landscape - otherwise known as the Etosha Pan - which is reputedly twice as salty as the Atlantic Ocean.

The park is home to 600-700 lions and I was somewhat relieved that it wasn't my job to find these in the morning. But it gives you some idea how many antelopes, wildebeest and other prey there must be living there to sustain this number of lions, not to mention other big cats and predators.

We had just entered the rainy season when I visited and so there weren't so many animals to see, as they can get enough water out in the bush and have no need to come to the water holes. But by this time I had seen enough animals on my trip to keep me going for a lifetime and was more intrigued by the ethereal landscape with huge skies.