Onkoshi Camp

The stay

On the rim of the pan

Onkoshi stands on a peninsula on the edge of the Etosha Pan, fifteen chalets and thirty beds in total. Most people see the pan from a viewpoint on a day trip; from here it is the view from your bed, and from the deck at sunset it runs white to the horizon.

It is one of the newer builds in the park and a deliberately light one: wooden structures on stilts with canvas walls and thatched roofs, running on solar power, linked by elevated walkways. The camp is unfenced, so game moves through it.

That lightness has consequences worth knowing before you book — electricity is not on around the clock, there are no televisions, and no children under six. In exchange you get a part of Etosha almost nobody else reaches.

What to do

Why stay at Onkoshi?

Onkoshi sits on a secluded peninsula on the rim of the Etosha Pan itself — fifteen chalets, thirty beds, well away from the routes the rest of the park travels. Most visitors see the pan from a car park. Here you look out over it from your bed.

It is inside the park, so the gates do not govern your day, and it is the most exclusive of the in-park camps by some distance. Guests also have access to an area of the park reserved for Onkoshi alone.

In the rainy season the pan fills and thousands of birds arrive to breed in the shallow water in front of the camp. If you are travelling between about December and March, this is the place in Etosha to be.

It has no floodlit waterhole — Okaukuejo and Halali are the camps for that. Onkoshi sells something else: the pan, the quiet and the space.

Before you book — this one needs reading

• Electricity is not available 24 hours a day. The camp runs on solar with generator back-up: water is heated during the day and lighting supplied in the evenings. Plan your charging around that
• No children under 6. Children aged 6 to 12 can share with parents on the chalet sleeper couch
• There are no televisions
• Wi-Fi is complimentary but slow, and only in the main area and restaurant. Mobile signal is limited
• Water is transported in, though the bathrooms have flush toilets and hot showers
• The camp is unfenced and game moves along the walkways — you are escorted after dark
• Breakfast is included; lunch and dinner are served at the small restaurant
• Park entry fees are payable separately

Getting into the park

• Guided game drives with the camp’s own staff
• Guided walks
• Self-drive into an area of the park reserved for Onkoshi guests
• Game watching from the deck — wildlife gathers on the edge of the pan

Things to see

• The Etosha Pan itself, from the rim
• Sunset over the white expanse from the deck
• Breeding birds in the shallows during the rains
• Game gathering along the pan edge
• The quietest corner of the park’s eastern side

Facilities

• Small restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Bar with a large deck over the pan
• Tranquillity pool at the main lodge
• Tourist shop
• Elevated walkways linking the chalets to the main area
• Parking
• Complimentary but slow Wi-Fi at the main area

Comparing the in-park camps

• Okaukuejo — the famous floodlit waterhole, busiest of the camps
• Halali — floodlit waterhole, quieter, central
• Namutoni — the old German fort, eastern side
• Dolomite — the remote west, very few other vehicles
• Onkoshi — on the pan rim itself, fifteen chalets, the most exclusive

Getting there

• On a peninsula on the rim of the Etosha Pan, on the eastern side of the park
• Reached through the Von Lindequist Gate, past Namutoni
• Bring your booking confirmation for the gate