My Kind of Traffic Jam in Etosha National Park, Namibia

A traffic jam held us up in Etosha National Park for most of the day during our Namibia tour. It was the first time I’d hoped for wall-to-wall traffic. Part of the line-up: zebras, a giraffe, a rhino, a springbok, an elephant, a wildebeest, and an ostrich. It all started with a few… hundred zebras.

Then the giraffe got excited and made a run for it.

The springbok checked his blind spot for any hidden traffic.

The elephant veered off to the toll road and drove it alone.

The wildebeest pilled in together to use the carpool lane.

And the ostrich cut me off.

As the sun began to set, I wished for a traffic jam everyday.

Sitting there, in Etosha National Park, among more wild animals than I’d ever seen in my life felt unreal. Namibia is filled with wild adventures beyond your expectations. In Etosha National Park, one minute, we were looking at an elephant mom with its baby and the next minute we were watching giraffes eat and learning about how they get down to drink water. Around another turn, an ostrich ran alongside our jeep, and shortly later, a lion chased it’s prey. One night, outside of Etosha National Park, we slept in a thatch roof hut and met a local, nomadic tribe. Another night, perched atop a rocky knoll with the unspoiled views of the Etendeka Mountains spread before us, we pulled our beds onto a veranda for stargazing. Every day felt like another bucket list dream filled with unimaginable beauty and wonder.

I didn’t think such encounters were even possible in my life and yet there I was sitting among the wild like I was part of the National Geographic team. In Namibia, even the traffic jams are awesome!