Inside the park · 17 km from the Andersson Gate

Okaukuejo

Etosha National Park, Namibia

The oldest and largest camp in Etosha, built beside a waterhole that is lit all night and widely reckoned the best game viewing in Namibia. Everything from a double room to a double-storey chalet with a balcony over the water.

The stay

The waterhole you have seen the photographs of

Okaukuejo’s waterhole sits immediately beside the camp and is floodlit through the night. You watch from a low stone wall a few minutes from your bed, and on a good night elephant, black rhino and lion come in one after another while you sit there with a drink.

The camp grew up around it. Founded in 1907 and now the administrative centre of the park, it has a restaurant, a bar, a shop, swimming pools and a stone tower from 1963 that you can climb for a view over the plains to the pan.

Accommodation runs from simple double rooms near the restaurant through bush chalets with their own braai to five double-storey premier chalets whose upper balconies look straight over the water. Breakfast is included with everything except the campsites.

Okaukuejo rest camp and its stone tower, Etosha

Game at the floodlit waterhole after dark

Where you will sleep

Accommodation at Okaukuejo

Seven ways to stay, from a pitch for your tent to a balcony over the waterhole. Breakfast is included with everything except the campsites.

Okaukuejo rest camp and its stone tower, Etosha

Chalets at Okaukuejo

Premier waterhole chalet, double storey

Balcony overlooking the floodlit waterhole

Bush chalet with its veranda and braai

Double room interior

Family chalet at Okaukuejo

Campsites under shade trees

Premier Waterhole Chalet

Only five of these exist, and they are the most sought-after beds in Etosha.
Double storey, two bedrooms. The main bedroom is upstairs with a double bed and an en-suite bathroom, and an upper balcony overlooking the waterhole — you can sit out there and watch game come in at two in the morning without leaving your room. A staircase leads down to a second bedroom with two single beds and a second bathroom.
There is a small lounge area with a fridge and tea and coffee facilities, air-conditioning and mosquito nets.

No self-catering or braai facilities here — meals are at the restaurant, and breakfast is included. Book these as far ahead as you possibly can.

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Premier waterhole chalet, double storey

Balcony overlooking the floodlit waterhole

Bush chalet with its veranda and braai

Double room interior

Family chalet at Okaukuejo

Campsites under shade trees

Ablution and kitchen block

Swimming pool at the camp

Waterhole Chalet

Thirty chalets built close to the waterhole.
Not all of them have a direct view of it, so if the view matters say so when you enquire and we will ask — but the proximity means you are a very short walk from game viewing at any hour of the day or night.
Air-conditioning, mosquito nets, a fridge and tea and coffee making facilities.

Breakfast is included and taken at the restaurant.

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Bush chalet with its veranda and braai

Double room interior

Family chalet at Okaukuejo

Campsites under shade trees

Ablution and kitchen block

Swimming pool at the camp

Restaurant and bar

Views from the 1963 stone lookout tower

Bush Chalet

Twenty-five bush chalets, each for a maximum of two adults.
The bedroom has two single beds, with a separate lounge area and a bathroom, and a veranda outside with its own braai.
This is the pick if you would rather cook your own dinner over the coals than sit in the restaurant — and after a long day in the park, plenty of people would.
Air-conditioning, a fridge and tea and coffee making facilities in each.

Breakfast is included and can be taken at the restaurant.

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Family chalet at Okaukuejo

Campsites under shade trees

Ablution and kitchen block

Swimming pool at the camp

Restaurant and bar

Views from the 1963 stone lookout tower

Game at the floodlit waterhole after dark

Elephant at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Double Room

Forty simple, comfortable double rooms, set a little further from the waterhole and closer to the communal areas — so the restaurant and swimming pools are on your doorstep instead.
Straightforward rooms with air-conditioning, mosquito nets, a fridge and tea and coffee making facilities.

These are the most affordable built accommodation at Okaukuejo and the easiest to get at short notice, given there are forty of them. Breakfast is included.

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Ablution and kitchen block

Swimming pool at the camp

Restaurant and bar

Views from the 1963 stone lookout tower

Game at the floodlit waterhole after dark

Elephant at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Etosha plains around Okaukuejo

Okaukuejo rest camp and its stone tower, Etosha

Accessible Chalet

Okaukuejo has units adapted for guests with restricted mobility, with step-free access and bathrooms fitted for wheelchair use.
They are close to the communal areas so the restaurant, shop and pool are an easy roll rather than a long push over gravel.

There are very few of them and we do not publish a fixed count here, because National Parks allocates them case by case. Tell us what you need when you enquire — the height of the bed, roll-in shower, grab rails, how close to the waterhole you want to be — and we will confirm with the camp before quoting you rather than after.

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Restaurant and bar

Views from the 1963 stone lookout tower

Game at the floodlit waterhole after dark

Elephant at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Etosha plains around Okaukuejo

Okaukuejo rest camp and its stone tower, Etosha

Chalets at Okaukuejo

Premier waterhole chalet, double storey

Family Chalet

Two self-catering family chalets, each with two bedrooms furnished with two three-quarter beds apiece.
The four of you share one bathroom with a shower, which is worth knowing before two couples book one.
Being self-catering, these suit families who would rather feed children on their own schedule than work around restaurant hours.

There are only two, so ask a long way ahead if you need one.

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Game at the floodlit waterhole after dark

Elephant at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Etosha plains around Okaukuejo

Okaukuejo rest camp and its stone tower, Etosha

Chalets at Okaukuejo

Premier waterhole chalet, double storey

Balcony overlooking the floodlit waterhole

Bush chalet with its veranda and braai

Campsite

Campsites with everything you need for a comfortable stay inside the park.
Each site has a power point and braai facilities, with lights, taps and rubbish bins distributed through the camping area. Many of the sites have trees giving proper shade — ask for one when you enquire, it makes a real difference in October.
Three communal ablution blocks serve the campsites, with hot water showers, three kitchens, washing areas and basic laundry facilities.

Bring your own tent and camping gear. Breakfast is not included for campers, but the restaurant, bar, shop and pools are a short walk away, as is the floodlit waterhole.

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What to do

Why stay at Okaukuejo?

One reason above all others: the waterhole. It sits immediately beside the camp, floodlit through the night, and it is the most famous piece of game viewing in Namibia. Elephant, rhino and lion come in through the small hours, and you watch from a low stone wall a few minutes from your bed with a drink in your hand.

Being inside the park matters just as much. Every lodge outside the gates loses the first and last hour of the day to driving. You do not. And night drives, which only guests staying inside can join, leave from here.

Okaukuejo is the oldest and largest camp in Etosha and its administrative centre, 17 km from the Andersson Gate. That size means a restaurant, bar, shop, swimming pools and the 1963 stone tower you can climb for a view over the plains to the pan — and it also means it is the busiest of the rest camps. If you want quiet, Halali is smaller.

These are National Parks units: well placed and comfortable rather than luxurious. You are paying for a position nothing outside the park can match at any price.

Before you book

Breakfast is included with every unit except the campsites
Only the bush chalets and family chalets have braai or self-catering facilities
Premier and waterhole chalets have no braai — meals are at the restaurant
Not every waterhole chalet has a direct view of the waterhole — ask when you enquire
Park entry fees are payable separately at the gate
Beds inside Etosha are limited and the premier chalets go many months ahead
Camping is covered in more detail on our Okaukuejo camping page

Getting into the park

The floodlit waterhole at the camp, open all night — the reason most people book here
Night drive, available only to guests staying inside the park
Guided morning and afternoon game drives from the camp
Self-drive game viewing to the waterholes around Okaukuejo
The stone lookout tower, for views over the plains to the Etosha pan

Things to see

The floodlit waterhole after dark
Black rhino, elephant and lion coming in to drink at night
The Etosha pan from the 1963 stone tower
Giraffe, zebra, springbok and oryx on the surrounding plains

Facilities

Floodlit waterhole beside the camp
Restaurant and bar
Swimming pools
Curio shop
Stone lookout tower dating from 1963
Fuel station
Park administrative centre

Getting there

17 km inside the Andersson Gate, the park’s main entrance
Park roads are fine for a normal car
Bring your booking confirmation for the gate

Elephant at the Okaukuejo waterhole

Views from the 1963 stone lookout tower

Photos

Okaukuejo in pictures

Choose a gallery, then tap any photo to see it larger. Use the arrows to move through them. There are more on the full photo gallery page.

Video

Etosha’s waterholes on film

Game coming in to drink, which is the whole reason to be here.

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