Etosha & Co. park fees are the lowest in the region

The travel industry's criticism of the upcoming increase in park fees in Namibia appears to be at least partially unfounded. Compared to other countries in southern and eastern Africa, they are the lowest, according to the German tour operator GoSafari.

The safari specialist compared the 31 "most popular safari parks" in the "top destinations" South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya. Parks in East Africa are the most expensive. Tanzania charges an average of €48 per person per day, and Kenya even €72.

In southern Africa, on the other hand, park entrance fees cost less than half that, GoSafari stated. Zambia charges an average of €22, South Africa €21, Botswana €17, and Zimbabwe €15. One needs to keep in mind, of course, that exchange rates may have changed since the comparison.

Namibia's fees are currently by far the cheapest. For Etosha National Park and other major parks, you have to pay 150 Namibian dollars. This is equivalent to 8 euros (amount at current exchange rate; ZAR1 = N$1). For smaller parks like Bwabwata and Nkasa Rupara, which GoSafari mentioned in its comparison, the fee is even lower at just N$100 or €5.32.

Parks cheapest, visa most expensive

Even after the fee increase effective April 1st (see report on Namibian.org), Namibia's parks remain the least expensive in the region. For Etosha and similar parks, the fee is N$280 (€14.91; amount at current exchange rate), while smaller parks cost N$200 (€10.65).

Of course, you have to add the vehicle fee. This was not included in the comparison most probably because it needs to be divided by the number of occupants.

However, another factor (though unrelated to parks) knocks Namibia from first to last place in the ranking for budget travellers: visa fees. The 'Visa on Arrival' costs N$1,600 (€85.27; amount at current exchange rate). According to GoSafari, Tanzania charges €42.95, Kenya and Zimbabwe €25.74, while Zambia, Botswana and South Africa charge nothing.

"Intimate safari experiences" in Namibia's parks

An "intimate" elephant encounter at the waterhole of the Okaukuejo rest camp in Etosha National Park in northern Namibia. Photo (October 2005): Sven-Eric Stender

GoSafari's analysis compared not only costs but also criteria such as exclusivity, time to travel to the park and visitor satisfaction. However, these results are somewhat less convincing.

A safari is considered 'exclusive' "where it is still an intimate experience". GoSafari determines intimacy by dividing the number of visitors per year by the number of square kilometers of park area.

The three most 'intimate' safari parks are all located in Zambia, each with less than one visitor per square kilometre per year. The biggest crowds are found in three parks in Kenya, with 489, 1,239, and nearly 1,780 visitors per km² per year, respectively. Namibia ranks 13th (Bwabwata: 4.38), 14th ('Ethosa', oops, they mean Etosha, of course: 5.11), and 16th (Nkasa Rupara: 15.63).

However, when it comes to accommodations within the parks, Namibia is once again among the top exclusive destinations. 'Ethosa', sorry: Etosha has 0.48 accommodations per 1,000 km². GoSafari: "Here, you share the wilderness with so few other guests that private wildlife viewing is the rule, not the exception."

Well, yes. But on average, you share your accommodation with 2,299 guests per year, according to another figure three columns further to the right. Purely mathematically, of course. As they simply divide the number of park visitors per year by the total number of accommodations (51).

Making sense? 40 of these accommodations are located within 10 km of the park, 11 within the park, they say. Without knowing any further details: the lodges, camps and campsites inside and outside the park vary significantly in size and price. You know.

Visitors highly satisfied with Etosha

4.5 out of 5 stars on the TripAdvisor review portal: Visitors are highly satisfied with their experiences in Etosha National Park. Photo: Screenshot of the 'Etosha Pan' page on TripAdvisor

Namibia does not score well when it comes to travel time from the airport to its three supposedly "most popular safari parks." Nkasa Rupara in the south-east of the Zambezi Region comes in last place with a 12-hour drive, says GoSafari, citing Google. Namibia experts say it takes 5 hours to Etosha (mind: not 'Ethosa'). But who cares about that on their Namibian round trip?

That leaves the visitor ratings, based on the overall scores on TripAdvisor. As of September 2025, according to GoSafari, Namibia's parks ranked in the middle range of high satisfaction. On a scale of 0 to 5 stars, the 31 parks received average scores between 4.2 and 4.8.

Namibian.org checked the score for Etosha. For 'Etosha National Park', TripAdvisor determined an average score of 4.3 based on 6 (!) reviews. For 'Etosha Pan', there were 521 reviews with an overall average rating of 4.5.

A final comparison criterion was the malaria risk, measured by the percentage of the population infected, in 2021. With 0.2 percent, Namibia, along with Botswana and South Africa, is among the three countries with the lowest risk.

But here, too, one wonders: What does this have to do with the parks? Especially since they are located far from densely populated areas? And what does it really tell us in times of malaria prophylaxis, mosquito nets and insect repellent?

The complete 'analysis' can be found on the GoSafari website (but only in German).