I've visited Etosha about every 5 years since 1970 or so. We're a couple of years overdue because the last time was such a disappointment.

Most/all of the wind/water pumps were inoperative, the roads were a disaster, the restaurants were serving nearly inedible food, and when we decided to find dinner in the shops, we found empty shelves - not even bread.

Reception staff was surly, but that's no big deal since you don't need them for much.

I don't know how much of the destruction outside the camps was natural and how much was due to lack of attention on the part of the naturalists. The beautiful foliage on the far side of the water hole at Okakuejo was dust, for instance, but a bunch of elephants could have done that in short order. Only they hadn't, for decades. So we're hoping for better times before going back.